An Arc's Mad World
by CoffeyJoe
Summary: Various scenarios involving Jaune that are mostly flat out drama and dark themes with just a pinch of NSFW. Don't like, don't read sorry to say.(Accepting requests) (All stories are available for Adoption, PM if interested)
1. When Time Isn't On Our Side

**Hello ladies and gentlemen! CoffeyJoe here with something that is definitely not something I had in mind for doing. As the description shows, this fanfic will be one-shots of Jaune Arc that will involve anything that pops into my imaginative little head. If I like one of the chapters I may make 2 or 3 more depending on if I have the mojo. Honestly, this whole fic is going to be an excuse to dump all my spare creativity into a landfill of ideas.**

 **So thanks for reading.**

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 **When Time Isn't On Our Side:**

 **At the age of 12 Jaune's semblance is found out to be one of the most powerful on remnant. His parents decided it would be best if he got personal training from someone with a similar power, so they sent him off to Beacon to be trained by their professors and, more importantly, their headmaster.**

 **For you see, Jaune was a time manipulator.**

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Jaune sat in his manor-style household, firmly in the lap of his oldest sister Bianca. She had a hand firmly wrapped around his shoulder with her other hand gently stroking his head; occasionally she'd offer soothing words when her brother's form would flicker as if he was about to fade from the world. Their second oldest sibling, Sienna, paced back and forth, scroll in her hand, as she talked with her parents that were rushing home immediately.

"Yes Dad I'm sure he's doing it!" a muffled voice said something over the line, "because I wasn't able to keep track of how goddamn fast he was going, and you know my semblance is observation!" she snapped into the scroll.

"Dad, Jaune's really scared. He's been crying his eyes out in fear, and he thinks he's going to hurt one of us or just up and disappear." she chewed on her lip tentatively, "just get home soon."

Sienna walked over to Bianca and the huddled Jaune, "how is he doing?" she asked quietly.

"Well he's shaking like a dog in a thunderstorm, my shirt is drenched in his tears, and nothing I can do will help. How do you think he's doing?" Bianca didn't mean to sound sarcastic, but the health of her little brother concerned her most of all out of everything.

"Ok, I know it was a dumb question." she peered down at her little brother, "and how has his phasing been?"

"It comes and it goes, but I've been able to keep him here for the most part."

Sienna just sighed, it was a good idea to send the others to their rooms until her parents got home. She did not need them rushing around like Taijitu's with their heads cut off, causing a ruckus and startling Jaune.

 **2 hours later...**

Aurelian and his wife, Fizza, burst through the front door and made a beeline to the living room. There they found their eldest cooing the little boy in her lap, Fizza walked slowly over to Bianca and put a hand on her shoulder. Bianca leaned back and tapped Jaune telling him: "Mom's here Jaune, she can help."

Jaune turned his head away from his sister's lap and, in less than a second, was suddenly latched onto her, much to Fizza's surprise, as his body rippled with opaque energy. Eventually, she returned the hug and stroked her son's messy hair.

"It's ok Jaune, you're ok, it's just your newfound semblance. It won't hurt you."

"R-Really? I-It - _hic_ \- scares me." Jaune choked out through hiccups.

It pained Aurelian to see his brave little boy in such a state, they needed help and fast. And he knew the only person on Remnant capable of helping his boy, pulling out his scroll he dialed the contact without a picture and only the name "Ozzy" on it.

It rang once and then it picked up, " _Hello?_ " was the slightly grainy reply from his older headmaster and friend.

"Oz, it's Aurelian."

" _Aurelian? How are the kids? How's Fizza?_ " he asked jovially, if he could see his former student's face he would not have been so happy.

"Not good, Jaune just discovered his semblance and it's the reason why I'm calling." there were several seconds of silence, it was good to know that Ozpin had a good idea of how serious this was.

" _What is it? Self-detonation? Telekinesis like your's? Or something worse?_ " Ozpin asked smoothly, almost like that of an android.

"He's got your semblance Oz, and he can't control it."

" _I'll be there within the hour._ " Ozpin replied before the line went dead.

 **30 minutes later...**

Jaune sat on the couch in their living room, his sister and mother flanking him on both sides as his father sat across from him. His dad was tapping his fingers together and taking gentle glances at his son who was very clearly in distress.

For a 12 year-old Jaune, this was very frightening. His world seemed to be normal enough, but every couple of minutes or so there would be this... warbling noise and suddenly everything would go really slow. All noise would slow down, all movement would slow down, even the particles in the air slowed down and clung to him creating a strange sensation, but Jaune could move just fine. Sometimes the effect would last for minutes, and sometimes it would last for only a few seconds, but it scared the daylights out of him; especially how everyone seemed frozen in place. It was an eerie feeling to say the least.

It had all gone wrong that morning when his parents were set to come back from a mission. Jaune was reaching up to get a box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal for his breakfast, his seven sisters all making a mess of the kitchen, when it happened. Jaune took hold of the box and came down from his stool as he read the games on the back of the box, he bumped into his older sister, Indigo, and just like that she went flying, as if some unseen force threw her almost through the wall.

His sisters stopped immediately as Jaune looked around in confusion. Moments passed and suddenly everything was in an uproar, Jaune's confusion turned to panic when he realized he was responsible for it and he tried to run.

Again, there was that sound as Jaune ran past his sisters and up the stairs. Passing by picture frames and assorted items around the house he never saw that seconds after he passed their current placement would be blown away through sheer speed and force of him passing by. Jaune was inadvertently slowing down time and moving faster than anyone else should be capable of. While slowing down time, the speed he is perceived at grants him impressive strength, inhuman reflexes, and a reaction time far greater than any huntsman. Running full speed into someone while time is slowed hits the victim with over 5x the force actually used, as the body and the laws of physics attempt to catch up to the user, it can turn people into paste with enough force!

Jaune's sisters had to coax him out with calm voices and soft gestures before he returned to the living room, where Sienna placed the call and Bianca took to calming the scared boy down to the best of her abilities.

Jaune was brought out of his reminiscing as the doorbell sounded, slightly distorted as Jaune once again slowed down time. His father opened the door to reveal someone he hadn't seen in a long time: Grandpa Ozpin and Auntie Glynda!

Jaune shot up to greet them, forgetting time was slowed as Bianca and Fizza were suddenly thrown off kilter by the force. Jaune ran over to meet them, moving too fast for the others to see as he appeared slightly behind his father. Glynda looked taken aback but Grandpa Ozpin just smiled softly at him as time resumed to normal, he looked Jaune in the eye and spoke to him gently.

"Good to see you again Mister Arc! I see your mother and sister's have been feeding you well; look at how tall you are now!" Jaune beamed at the compliment as Aurelian tapped Ozpin slightly.

"Aw yes, Jaune I've come to talk to you about your newfound power and what it means!"

"What it means?" Jaune asked, cocking his head innocently to one side.

"Yes, it means you are a very special and very powerful boy. It also means you have the potential to be an even greater huntsman than your parents!"

Jaune's face lit up as Aurelian waved them inside and sat them down on the spare furniture. Jaune resumed his place between his sister and mother and Ozpin continued to talk.

"Mister Arc, you belong to a very special class of people called 'Time Manipulators' as in: you have a degree of control over the flow of time." Jaune gave a low "wooooah" sound as Grandpa Oz just gave another smile. Auntie Glynda stared at him with veiled concern as he occasionally flickered in and out of normal time; however, it seemed Grandpa Ozpin was completely unaffected by these changes, moving like normal.

"Are you like me Grandpa?"

Ozpin gave an amused snort at his title but nodded, "yes Mister Arc I am, and it is the reason I'm here. I've come to teach you about your powers!"

Time flickered back near the end of his sentence and his perceptive dad caught on quickly. "Yes Jaune, your Grandpa here has decided to show you all about your new power, and how to hunt Grimm with it."

 _That's so cool!_ Jaune thought, if there was one thing he wanted to do it was be a cool huntsman like his dad, and mom, and big sis, and Auntie Glyn, and that one drunk guy he met at that party!

"It is cool." Ozpin said, Jaune always found it cool when Ozpin 'read his mind' so to speak, "and it'll get much cooler once I've taken you under my wing, but for now I'm going to seal your aura for just a little bit. To make sure that annoying flickering stops ok?"

Jaune nodded and looked at his Dad who gave him a warm smile and put his big hand on his shoulder, "You're going to live at Beacon for awhile Jaune, and the people there will help you master your power to the best of their abilities. You'll also get the best training we can get you."

He knelt down next to his son and put both hands around his shoulders, "I love you Jaune, we love you and don't ever forget it. It may be a little while before we see eachother face-to-face but I'll text everyday and facetime every weekend."

"Cool dad! When do I get going?"

"Right now Mister Arc." Jaune turned around to see Grandpa Oz with a finger almost pressed to his forehead, there was a crackled of green energy and then everything went dark.


	2. A Piece of Me

**Hello everyone! Another day and another chapter featuring a grim idea that popped into my head. As far as the updates for this story it will be whenever I feel like it. Also, I am taking requests for ideas and I don't usually shy away from the darker stuff, but, just putting it out there, I'll usually do a story if I atleast know about the topic. So keep that in mind.**

 **Enjoy.**

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 **Piece of Me:**

 **Jaune was thrown into the doghouse for a crime he didn't commit. A few days before the Vytal Festival and Jaune's wandering the streets trying to find a motel for the night, and his biggest concern will be his punishment when he gets back. But, a certain doctor has a much, much different plan in mind.**

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Jaune walked along the streets of Vale, cold and shivering in the rain, and just thinking about how fucked today was. Everything was going pretty normal for the day: boring classes like Port's, training with Goodwitch, and lunch and dinner which went with their usual hijinks. But, later that evening, a shocking crime was discovered: Jaune was a major pervert and a creep!

See, what happened was that Team JNPR was residing in their rooms before one blonde brawler of Team RWBY busted down the door with a look of fury in her eyes. Jaune got up from where he was seated on his bed to ask before Yang grabbed him by the collar.

"So you thought we wouldn't notice huh Vomit-Boy?" she said furiously.

Jaune just looked confused and tried to choke out a response before Yang threw him down. "Don't lie, I know you've been sneaking around our room, probably molesting our clothing and touching our stuff."

That stung, an Arc would never dare disgrace a maiden's clothing, "Yang what the he-"

"Don't lie Arc!" shouted Weiss as she stamped through the door, Ruby and Blake blocking the doorway. Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora looked on the scene with expressions between outraged shock and stoic nonchalentness.

"We know you've been in our room for some perverted reason!" she shouted at him, Jaune couldn't help but feel very hurt and very confused.

"Weiss, I've been with my team the whole day-" he started, forgetting the snow-angel nickname he usually called her by.

"Don't even try! We found your scroll in our room, beneath our dirty laundry!"

"What? Why would I leave my scroll-"

"Because you were digging through our dirty clothes!" interjected Yang with ever increasing anger.

"Ok what's going on?" Pyrrha finally came to the aid of her leader and crush.

Yang and Weiss proceeded to tell a one-sided story of how they found Jaune's scroll underneath their dirty clothes, and how various items, including Blake's precious Ninjas of Love series, was strewn about the room.

By the end Pyrrha's conviction to her leader turned to indignant anger aimed right at the blonde knight. Pyrrha did not enjoy the idea of her crush snooping around the other girl's things, and she would need to discipline him on the proper way he should act. She would break him of this filthy habit even if she had to apply some pain to it.

"Jaune, words cannot express how disappointed I am" Pyrrha spoke in a maternal tone. It made Jaune cast his eyes down onto the floor in shame, even if he wasn't the true culprit.

"Ren, come on you know me!" Jaune asked in hopeless despair to his stoic, and reasonable, brother.

"Jaune, I understand your hormones are out of control, but that is no reason to do something like this. However, we're all willing to forgive you once we decide your punishment." Jaune looked crushed, the only man in his life that could have saved him, and he didn't even believe Jaune.

"Jaune, you're going out into Vale tonight and staying at a motel until tomorrow. We feel as though this will be a good start to your punishment, and we all expect you to return tomorrow for your punishment which will be agreed upon." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, so don't be surprised if I kick your teeth in." Yang said with a snarl.

...

So yeah, now Jaune was lost on the streets, on a rainy Friday night, with the usual hustle and bustle of the city giving way to the subdued calm of the occasional passing car. Jaune had been trying to find a hotel for hours, but all of them were booked for the Vytal Festival!

"Oh man, what am I gonna do? Sleep on the street? Then I'll have to go get my ass kicked by my team and RWBY tomorrow." he whined sullenly.

Jaune didn't notice the cat faunus that had been sneaking up behind him this whole time, and he barely put up any struggle as the needle slid into his neck. The tranquilizers acted fast and he was out like a light.

"Now to take you to Dr. Grossman."

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 **The next day...**

Pyrrha paced back and forth in her room, it was nearly 7 at night and Jaune still hadn't come back! They spent the whole day looking for him, but nothing came up! They even got Team SSSN, Team BRNZ, and Team NDGO (through Nora's "persuasion") to help. Yang was still adamant about torturing the poor kid when he came back, and Weiss thought much of the same. Blake, although a little miffed about her books, thought a fair punishment would suffice and Ruby was freaking out about Jaune going missing.

Team NPR wasn't super better, with all this White Fang business and the Vytal Festival, could some ruffian have attacked Jaune? Were they going to find his corpse in the sewer tomorrow?! Why didn't they send him away with Crocea Mors! Pyrrha worry was reflected, albeit stealthily, by Jaune's brother-in-arms Ren. Truth be told, he wasn't at all mad at Jaune as Nora did these things fairly often, but even then he just needed a little punishment and he'd be back to normal. Nora was, well Nora; she was teasing Pyrrha about how Jaune could be getting dissected in some mad torturer's lab or he could have been mugged by a gang of street thugs. Needless to say, Pyrrha and Ruby were getting worse by the minute.

Ren suggested they go out for a bit of dinner and they could just relax and wait for Jaune to get back. He's probably just trying to scrape together and apology and mentally prepare himself for when he comes back. The teams sat outside the market square, eating their ordered dinners, and looking up at the jumbo-tron like screens planted to the large building around them, playing the news and Vytal Festival updates. The square was a popular place for tourists and transfer as it had late-night shopping and dining ranging from high-class to fast food. Suddenly, something odd happened to all the screens in the area as they were replaced by fuzzy static before returning to what seemed to be an operating room.

People looked up in confusion, was this for some kind of promotion or something? Then, as if on cue, a short woman, most likely mid 30s and with raggedy brown hair done up in a sloppy ponytail, slowly walked into the camera's view. She had thick-rimmed glasses and freckles all over her face, she wore an orange knitted skirt and a red turtleneck along with a doctor's coat that had seen better days.

She walked up to the camera and adjusted it slightly to get a better view, grunting and mumbling under her breath about faulty equipment. After a minute or so, she finally got it where she wanted it and stepped back to introduce herself.

"Hello!" she said in a chipper tone, "I am Doctor Lila Grossman! The -former- number one biorobotical and bioengineer specialist for Atlas. That was, until I was fired 7 years ago for 'unethical experiments' in the words of General Ironwood." she said the last part bitterly as if remembering an old memory.

"And today, I have been given a great chance by the White Fang and our mutual benefactors to showcase our power and, more importantly, my genius!" Team NPR and RWBY, along with civilians and students alike, seemed perplexed by the strange woman. But, as she mentioned the White Fang, an undercurrent of tension rippled throughout the city and along the two teams.

"You see, my specialty was robotic enhancements to organic creatures such as dogs, birds, fish, and -yes- humans! I was fired because my subjects were sometimes less than willing to cooperate and lied about my actions to get me booted out of my position." she continued, pacing lightly back and forth.

"But, with my new employer, I have found my passionate spark again! And today, you will all witness the first of my new children in 7 years! The subject we're working with is a beautiful specimen and has proven quite docile!" Ren felt a familiar sinking feeling in his stomach as Dr. Grossman moved out of the way to reveal a medical table with a light blue tarp over it.

She grabbed it and, with a flourish like a true showman, ripped the tarp off whatever was underneath. Ren almost choked as he saw the familiar mop of blonde hair, strapped to the table via leather restraints. The rest of the man's body was trapped in a similar fashion, with both his hands having their own shackles as well. It didn't take Team RWBY long before they connected to dots.

"Yes! I found this little one wandering the streets last night!" _please by Oum no_ thought Ren, "A little huntsman-in-training going out for a night on the town, but he forget the most important rule: never travel alone!" she said with a smile, while tussling the blonde boy's hair as he began to wake.

"Oh! Looks like he's waking up!" the civilians watched in horror as the students steeled themselves for what's to come, far back at Beacon Team CFVY, CRDL, SSSN, and the faculty watched, unable to take their eyes of the video feed.

"W-What? T-The fuck? Where am I? Who are you!" Jaune began to struggle against his binds as his memory flowed back to him, people could only stare in horror as they watched the confused boy struggle for freedom.

"Calm down Jaune. You're ok. You're in safe hands." Dr. Grossman cooed softly, almost like a mother comforting her child that had a nightmare.

In his emerald tower Ozpin set his jaw in a thin line as he watched the feed, Dr. Grossman disappeared shortly after her being fired and she hasn't been seen since then. Ironwood, who was in the room, rubbed an imaginary beard as he clenched his teeth. Oobleck had foregone his usual excitement as he tried to find the source of the signal, his colleague, Peter, was currently trying to maintain order as was Goodwitch.

Outside the situation wasn't much better, various students sat stunned or began to race around in panic. Sun bit his lip in anticipation, he knew the White Fang were crazy but this was something else, "Neptune, guys, come on we need to find him!" Sun said to his team who replied with varying degrees of "yes".

Back with Grossman she had finished drawing out medical tools and turning on various machines that ended with pincers, saws, and syringes filled with unknown liquid. They whirred softly as Grossman brought out a small trolley, a tray of various surgical tools and a metal dish present on them.

"What are those for?" Jaune asked, sounding like a child who was afraid of the dentist.

"Oh yes! I forgot to tell you what I'm here for!" she said, snapping her fingers in enlightenment. "You see, my friends have offered me a great chance to make a whole new line of my children! Better, faster, stronger, and more skilled; Jaune here will be the first of the new model."

"You see, what I'm going to do is take our intact friend here, and I'm going to cut. him. apart." she said, putting emphasis on the last three words. Jaune whimpered unlike the badass huntsman he wanted to be, and he looked like he was on the verge of crying.

Meanwhile with Team RWBY and NPR, Yang felt like throwing up, she had sent Jaune out there alone and promised him that she was going to hurt him when he got back. And now he was going to be sliced to bits of live television because they left him alone.

Ruby's innocent mind tried to wrap around this, not even Torchwick would do something like this right? Stuff like this didn't happen, only in those scifi movies right? Jaune would get off that table and shout how this was all a big prank and Ruby would bop him on his head for being such a dummy, but he didn't need to make it seem so real. She was really starting to get scared!

Pyrrha looked like she was on the verge of fainting, her crush, her leader, the first person to see her as a normal girl was about to be dissected. Everything felt cold, and her knees began to wobble.

"Ren" Nora whispered hoarsely, clinging to the green ninja, "I-I didn't mean it. I don't want Jaune to be cut up." Ren could only stroke her hair comfortingly, what could they do?

Grossman was finishing the explanation of the process which involved scooping out the eyes (she made a sickening _pop_ sound while gesturing to her two eyes) and replacing them with cyber-enhanced inorganic ones. She would then start the process of removing the heart, spine, and lungs and replacing them with more efficient artificial replacements. Then there would be vitamin extracts and solutions injected into the skin and bones that would toughen them up and provide for a better defense. Then of course she would add in some implants, rework his nervous system slightly, drill into his head and apply a few more implants. By the end Jaune had given up his shouts of protest and was reduced to whimpering puddle.

"Now! Onto the good stuff right? Don't worry folks, we'll be putting him under for the duration of the surgery, I'm not an animal after all!" she chuckled to silence. Ozpin had called in various teams to begin a search all over Vale for Dr. Grossman and Jaune.

Back at Beacon, teams became organized and started to create search parties. Team CRDL looked around like a flock of confused pigeons, "Cardin, what do we do?" Dove asked his leader, they may not have like Jaune but he saved Cardin back at Forever Fall. Cardin looked around as he saw Team CFVY run for the bullheads and begin their search. "Follow them team! Hold on Jauney-boy we're on our way!" he shouted, following Team CFVY.

"Now, let's put you under young man and when you wake up, you'll be a whole new person!" Grossman closed in with a needle as Jaune began to beg for mercy much to the heartache of the unwilling watchers. Still, the doctor stuck the needle into his neck and then the boy went silent.

"Before I begin I like to listen to some music!" Grossman said to the audience, reaching over to something off camera and fiddling with it. Static crackled into the room before the sound of music could be heard: "Wonderful Wonderful" by Johnny Mathis began to play as Grossman picked up a scalpel and pulled in some kind of overhead device closer to Jaune's face.

Grossman blocked most of her actions with her body but it was not hard to guess what was happening, she was tentatively dragging the scalpel along Jaune's face before picking up some tongs from the tray. One by one she placed a pair of bright blue eyes into medical dish that seemed to stare right into the camera, various sounds of vomiting could be heard around Vale as parents hid their children from the sight. Ozpin's grip on his coffee mug was almost tight enough to shatter it as Ironwood barked orders into his scroll and to his soldiers.

The doctor walked away leaving the eyeless, still form of Jaune Arc to drip a small line of blood down the side of his head. She soon returned with a pair of new, artificial eyes that she plugged into the poor boy's now empty sockets with a wet _squelch_. She brought the device above him closer and tapped a few buttons on it as ghostly blue lasers shot out of the device and into the eyes of Jaune. Cobalt sparks flew as Grossman continued to fiddle with the machine, changing the trajectory and width of the laser as Jaune involuntarily twitched every so often.

Pyrrha had blacked out and Ren gripped Nora to his side as she buried her face into his chest. Ruby clung to her sister with scared tears in her eyes as Yang tried to block out what was happening. Blake could only scrunch her eyes down and look away, but Weiss seem transfixed by the morbid spectacle as Grossman moved over to Jaune's body and brought out a small saw.

Thousands cringed as the hideous shriek of the saw started that was soon accompanied by the wet-sounding cut of metal to flesh. She brought it down his chest and opened the cavity with a pair of forceps as she went to work on his organs. Using more precise tools and machines she cut out his heart with efficient speed of a true surgeon, she walked away for a moment before returning with a much more mechanical looking heart before placing it inside him. Again, she fused it to him via those blue lasers and she followed suit with the lungs. After she was down with those organs she moved to the implants and added them in as well.

Vale Police and huntsman teams scoured the whole city-

"Team SSSN checked the docks, he's not there!"

"Can someone trace the signal?"

"One of the teachers is!"

"Anyone have a clairvoyance semblance?"

"Where's his team?"

Grossman continued onward, sealing her incision on his chest and moving to make some "improvements" around his abdomen and arms using her trusty implants. She undid the shackles around his wrist and began to make incisions on his wrist, throwing more artificial parts and making adjustments to his nerves. Everywhere she cut she left surgical scars that, while sealed with some kind of biomed gel, would forever be apart of him.

She added various implants and adjustments to his legs, thighs, calfs, and even some to his Achilles Tendon. The entire time, automated machines whizzed above him and added secondary adjustments and surgeries to the rapidly changing boy. Grossman suddenly changed directions and turned the boy over on his front gently, she then made an additional incision along his back and went to work on his spine. She removed bits and pieces and replaced the whole thing with an artificial one that would grant Jaune an increased ability to carry things and a much stronger back. For all her insane procedures her surgeries really would turn Jaune into an apex huntsman, and possibly launch him into the top 10 of his year.

Ruby had stopped crying and now just hiccuped against Yang who had gone still, Blake and Weiss were currently with an unconscious Pyrrha as others got water for her. Ren and Nora were still fused to eachother, both refusing to watch the feed and trying to ignore the sounds from the surgery. Then, after what seemed like an eternity of torture, Grossman stopped and breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

"That oughta do it!" she said happily. "Little Jaune here will wake up by tomorrow in his brand new body, and then we'll drop him back off to Beacon to be rejoin his comrades!"

Ozpin rubbed his hand against his temples, this whole thing was a nightmare. First Ironwood's fleet, then the White Fang, and now this? They'd be lucky if the combined fear didn't attract enough Grimm to collapse the walls! Ironwood had been halfheartedly listening to the radio chatter, there was no sign of Grossman or her whereabouts throughout the entire search and, now that she was done mutilating that boy, she would escape into the night.

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 **The next day...**

"They found him near the docks!"

People gathered as a bullhead with a red cross on it landed at Beacon academy. Atlesian corpsmen wheeled out a stretcher with urgency, the comatose boy still strapped to it, and moved into Beacon's infirmary.

The doctors and scientists began to run their tests on the boy to discover what exactly Grossman did to him. True enough, they found various implants fused to his body, artificial organs such as the heart, spine, and lungs, cybernetic eyes, and a few cranial implants that seemed to process information faster. Almost all of the surgeries for unfixable due to the delicacy of their placement and purpose. Only Jaune's team, Ironwood, and Ozpin were allowed to visit him with the former spending most of their time at the infirmary.

Jaune began to stir, rousing his team from their various states of slumber. Pyrrha was the first to get up and run over to her leader as Ren and Nora followed suit, Jaune eyes opened and Pyrrha had to suppress a gasp.

"Pyrrha? Guys?" Jaune said weakly.

"It's ok Jaune! You're back at Beacon." Pyrrha choked out between hot tears.

"My body, it feels... What happened?" Jaune said, trying in vain to get up. Pyrrha gently pushed him down so he wouldn't strain himself this early on, the surgeries took a lot out of him, but those implants were bound to make his recovery go faster.

"Pyrrha get me a mirror." Jaune said, as his team exchanged glances.

"Jaune I don't think-" Ren began to say but was interrupted by Jaune.

"Give me a damn mirror Ren!" he shouted, with surprising loudness.

Ren quickly brought him a mirror and hesitantly gave it to him. Jaune carefully picked it up and got a full reflection of his face, his expression slowly turned to horror as he saw what looked back. Silvery scars ran all over his face including his forehead, and there were multiple straight lines from the scalpel along where his normal eyes used to be, the only thing that stared back at him now were those unnatural green eyes...

His screams of anguish and horror could be heard throughout the campus.


	3. The Champion's Prize (Lemon)

**Third chapter for today ladies and gentlemen and guess what: it's a smut chapter! I'm sure you get the idea so skip if you don't want to read. Otherwise enjoy! BTW, this is definitely becoming a series so comment some kinks you may want in here ;).**

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 **The Champion's Prize:**

 **Pyrrha is known as the champion of good, a magnificient huntress and world-class celebrity she has never asked for much while she could have had anything. Now, for the first time in her life, she's wanted something that's been denied to her over and over again. Jaune will learn the hard way that a champion always gets her prize. (rape lemon!)**

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Pyrrha Nikos: Four-time winner of the Mistralian tournament, world-renowned fighter, and gentle soul to all that knew her personally. She was also my partner, and the one responsible for training me in the ways of combat when I had no experience. She saved me in the Emerald Forest, got me through the first semester of classes at Beacon, and spent her own time to train me so I wouldn't fall behind in combat class. I owe her everything.

So I didn't think it was strange when she called me up to our dorm on a Saturday afternoon, just after a spar with Team RWBY. I assumed she just wanted to chill out, or maybe she wanted me to fix her hair again (seven sisters remember?), or it could be that she wanted another one of my miraculous back massages (again, seven sisters). I walked up the stairs to my dorm and opened up our door using my scroll as per usual. I found my redheaded partner humming a gentle tune as she sat on the edge of her bed, her beautiful hair done up in her usual pony tail and tapping her fingers against Milo's xiphos form that rested on her lap.

"Hey Pyrrha, you wanted to talk?" I said happily, walking up to her and shutting the door.

She just turned and smiled, but didn't get off the bed. "Yes Jaune, I wanted to talk to you for a bit. Since Ren and Nora made plans to go somewhere tonight, and Team RWBY is hitting up one of those club's downtown, I thought we could spend some time together."

I gave her what I hoped was a award-winning smile, "sure Pyr! Just tell me what you wanted to do and I'll oblige!" I missed the way her thighs closed slightly when I said that as my eyes were shut tight along with that goofy-ass smile on my face.

 _Great, now I sound like a total creeper_ I thought to myself, but Pyrrha just gave one of her adorable giggles before looking at me, eyes half lidded and smile turning predatory. She drummed her fingers against Milo a little more before looking back at me again-

"Jaune, have you ever been in love before?" I sputtered at that, here was this beautiful goddess alone in my dorm room asking me if I'd ever been in love. If I was actually handsome I would have taken that as a flirt, but I knew she just wanted some love advice.

"Once or twice, but nothing too serious so far." her eye twitched slightly, but her smile didn't fade or even seem to tarnish.

"Ok, and have you ever had those feeling turn into something more? Like... an obsession?" she continued without missing a single beat. What? Did I just hear that right? My smile faltered slightly but I answered anyway.

"N-No Pyrrha I haven't." The mood seemed to shift in the room, I noticed some things weren't right. Crocea Mors was nowhere in sight, the curtains had been drawn closed, and -at this hour- there'd be no one in the dorms but us.

Her smiled widened, but it didn't reach her eyes quite right. They looked almost... predatory...

"Have you ever just wanted to take the object of your affection and let them know how you feel?"

"N-No, Pyrrha what's-"

"Have you ever wanted to just hold them down and show them that you're the only one they need?"

I started to back slowly towards the door, this wasn't how Pyrrha acted! She must have been drugged or something! I felt my fingertips brush against the doorknob as Pyrrha still sat quietly.

"P-Pyrrha, this isn't funny-"

"I have Jaune, I've wanted to take my loved one and pin him down. I've wanted to show him that he can only have me in his life, and no other girl will come between us no matter what. To hear him call out my name in ecstasy as I mark him as my own. My property."

"C-Come on, I'm serious Pyrrha! You're starting to scare me!"

She stood up, but made no move to come closer. "I've heard that feelings of love can be scary at first, but it will soon blossom into something greater. I want you Jaune. I've wanted you as the first and only thing in my entire life. And I will have what I want."

I didn't wait, I pulled on the doorknob but it didn't budge. I twisted and pulled, but I didn't dare take my eyes off my partner. It was strange, the door almost seemed like it was-

"Locked, my darling?" she teased sultrily, "did you forget my semblance?"

I blanched, _fucking magnetism_ I thought to myself. I was screwed like a child in a Grimm's nest, there's no getting out of here. Even though I made progress in my combat classes I had no chance in hell of beating Pyrrha.

Pyrrha came closer to me, Milo in hand as she raised a glove and I felt my bracers move on their own, pinning my hands above my head. She stalked over, swaying her hips and got mere inches from my face.

"Now, my love." she whispered, "Now, you will become mine."

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Pyrrha had stripped me off most my clothing with my offering little resistance. One does not simply deny the four-time tournament champion who is currently armed and psychotic when asked to hold still. Despite this, I couldn't keep a furious blush down as she tied my arms and legs to the posts of her bed, Pyrrha had left momentarily to the bathroom and I took the time to struggle against my restraints.

No good. Damn things were iron-tight, made me wonder if she was a girl scout or something when she was younger. A few minutes in and I had given up my plan of escape, the best I could do now was reason with her or, if it came down to it, grit my teeth and bear it. I heard the sound of shuffling clothes and the bathroom door opening to reveal my deranged partner, naked as the day she was born barring her tiara.

Dire thought the situation may be, a man's nether region will always heed the call of his more primal urges and I felt Plan B rise to attention. Pyrrha could obviously see it and it made me wanted to fold into myself and disappear, she raised a hand to her cheek and chewed on the end of her pinky finger with animalistic hunger. If her own blush began to glow brighter as I could see the beginnings of a smile tug at the corners of her mouth, wiping away some drool she sauntered over to me.

"It seems you want this as much as me." she said huskily, brushing along side the bed and snaking a hand onto my chest.

"Damnit Pyrrha snap out of it! This isn't you, let me go and I can help. We can go to Ozpin or Goodwi-" I felt her gentle hand turn into a iron grip around my neck as my throat closed slightly, not enough to kill me but enough to make me listen.

"D-Don't mention a pig like h-her to me h-honey! You know I'm the o-only one you need, _r-right_?" she said in a voice that dripped with sickeningly sweet malice, that plastic smile frozen to her face. I nodded my head the best I could, hoping she wouldn't eviscerate me for saying anything else relating to Goodwitch.

"I get it, you don't know what I'm willing to do for you my love, but don't worry: I'll show you right now what I can do for you." she whispered into my ear. Her hand released its hold of my neck as she snaked it down to the hem of my boxers. A swallowed a wad of spit, _Plan B it is then, oh grandma if you can see this just look away!_ I thought with shame.

In one fell swoop Pyrrha had unburdened me of my underwear and grasped Jaune Jr. in her firm hand. I choked back an initial moan as she bit her lip in excitement, _if this were any other time_ I thought morosely.

My partner began to pump her hand up and down my length with tenacity and she whispered into my ear. "I see you wanna do this the hard way, that's fine my dear. I'll have you at my beck and call by the time I'm over." those words sent shivers down my spine, and I fought back another moan.

"You have seven sisters right? I can see why your mom was so eager for it, about 7 and a half inches by my guess." she breathed while stifling a moan of her own. Jaune tried to bite back his shame and another moan but only succeeded with the former.

"I knew you would start to like it, now its my turn. After all, from now on, you're my property!" she said maniacally, Jaune's eyes widened at that statement this woman was absolutely out of her mind! Jaune couldn't protest because, with one flexible move, Pyrrha mounted his head and pressed her sex right onto his mouth.

"Get started dear, or I'll show you just how cruel I can be!" she said softly, grinding her hips on his head eliciting an involuntary moan from the redheaded champion. Jaune complied to the best of his ability despite knowing nothing about sex; he went gentle and smooth, dragging his tongue along the lips of her pussy and around various parts of her vulva. Pyrrha kept a suffocating grip on his manhood as she rode him, bucking her hips every so often as she moaned heartily.

Jaune kept going, eventually prying his tongue into her opening earning a choked sob of pleasure from the girl above him. He explored the inside of her womanhood to the best of his abilities, he was suddenly thankful for those embarrassing lectures from his dad and older sister. Pyrrha pressed her toned butt against Jaune's head more as he fought to get some semblance of oxygen.

"ah ah ah." she teased giddily, "You get to breathe after you've made me cum, so I'd get to tha~t" she was cut off at the end by another moan as Jaune increased his attack beneath her. He was thankful for the dormitories being empty now as Pyrrha's moans were getting progressively louder and lewder by the moment, eventually he could feel something well up inside her as his supply of air dwindled even further.

"JAAAAUUUNE!" she cried for the world to hear as she came violently against his head, choking out moans and her legs vibrated and trembled. Jaune for his part was force to swallow what he could as he tried to struggle for air. After awhile her orgasm tapered off and she dismounted her partner's head as he sucked down the precious gas of life and tried to slow her heart rate.

"Good job my sweet, you're becoming an obedient little slave." she cooed softly, stroking Jaune's hair as the boy winced and struggled against his bonds. This wasn't happening to him! Yeah, it was all a bad dream and he'd wake up in a little bit and go back to normal! Jaune shut his eyes tight and shook his head, he wanted this all to be a bad dream! He wasn't being raped, his partner wasn't crazy, and his life hadn't taken a turn for the absolute worst!

Pyrrha played with Jaune's hair before leaning down to drag her tongue roughly upside his head and nibble on his ear slightly. Jaune gave a frightened whimper which only aroused Pyrrha more, her blonde knight: broken and whimpering at her feet, loyal to her completely and willing to follow any command.

"Now darling, for us to become one and me to mark you as my own!" she said in a crazed and hungry whisper. She had set down Milo at the foot of the bed and proceeded to straddle me. She licked her lips like a predator above her prey, she dragged a finely manicured nail down my chest as she rubbed her ass against the shaft of my cock, arousing it more and making it stand straight.

I, for my part, shut my eyes as tight as possible and tried to focus on other things: Ren and Nora, that assignment in Oobleck's, X-Ray and Vav, anything to take me away from this hellhole. I couldn't see her, but I'm sure Pyrrha smirked and stood slightly up, hot sex pressed against my tip before she suddenly sheathed herself on my length. Try as I might this time my back arched and I let out a load groan.

"Gaagh~aagh!" I breathed, eyes screwing tighter and my hands dug into my bindings. I could hear more gasps from Pyrrha as she adjusted herself; it was wet and hot, like nothing I'd ever experienced. Like something that could easily break me after enough times. Pyrrha lunged down and wrapped her hands around my neck and bit down hard onto my shoulder.

"Stop!" I cried, but I could feel blood oozing out of my shoulder as pulses of pain racked my right side. Pyrrha growled lowly before slamming herself down onto my dick again, I saw stars and my eyes went wide. She brought herself up and down my length, gyrating her toned hips as she rode me with the skill of a true huntress. The soft sounds of flesh hitting flesh resounded throughout the small room as I tried to fight the intense pleasure and Pyrrha groaned more and more. I could feel every movement inside of her as her walls wrapped around my manhood, engulfing in white hot flesh as she pounded rhythmically against my pelvis. Pyrrha ripped her mouth away from his still bleeding shoulder to stare wide-eyed up at the ceiling.

"Yes! Yes! You're my toy now Jaune! Mine to have and mine to own! I'll make everything you have mine and I'll take you whenever and however I want." she cried out in a sex-fueled craze. Something warm and wet flowed down my face, at first I thought it was more blood from some other wound but no: they were tears.

Hot tears flowed down my face as I tried to ignore what was happening to me. Mom and big sis always told me my first time would be special, with someone I loved and with someone who loved me! It'd be romantic and full of passion and rippling with a mutual bond of spirit, but this was nothing like that. I'd lost my first time to my partner, my secret crush who raped me! And now, she'd turn me into her toy for the rest of my life and that's how my story would end: locked away by Pyrrha to be taken whenever she wanted to.

I let pained, emotional sobs tear forth from my throat as I shook my head denial. This didn't stop Pyrrha for one second, in fact, it made her pick up speed as her eyes rolled back into her and her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

"Yes my dear! I love seeing you cry! I love your anguish!" she cried as she bent down to lap up my shed tears like a fine wine. Her speed was picking up and I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I saw her grab Milo from the corner of my eye, and then I saw her raise it above me like some kind of slasher villain, a look of absolute insanity etched into her face.

"You're mine Jaune Arc- no, Jaune Nikos! You are now my property, you have no free will of your own! You will listen to me! You will pleasure me! Whenever I want, in class, at the dorm, in front of our friends! Whenever!" she cried, "But first, I must mark you as my property!"

"God no! Please no Pyrrha I'm begging you!" I sobbed for mercy as Milo glinted through the curtains from the evening sunlight. "Please! Anybody! Help me for god's sake!"

She laughed as she brought Milo onto my chest, carefully she dug the point into the flesh of my chest as I sobbed and twisted in agony. This didn't faze her as she both carved some godforsaken word into my chest and rode me violently at the same time. My climax was approaching fast and so was her's, she dug Milo into my skin as hot blood coursed down my chest and in-between our bodies. Half a minute later, I couldn't it in and my hips bucked as I came hard and fast, and, at the same time, Pyrrha finished her "artwork" and gushed onto my hips as well with a throaty giggle.

Getting up, she returned with a towel, a mirror, and some kind of gel that I couldn't make out between the tears in my eyes and the pain in my chest. She tenderly wiped away some of the accumulated blood and went to work applying the cool gel to my chest that dulled the pain slightly as well as giving me a funny feeling like bugs squirming on my skin. Maybe 5 minutes later of Pyrrha admiring me laying there tied up, she wiped away whatever was left and brought up the mirror to show me her handiwork:

N-I-K-O-S

S-L-A-V-E

The room whirled around me, that fucking psychopath carved "Nikos Slave" into my chest and then put some kind of medical gel on it to prevent my aura from making it disappear. She giggled at my reaction and undid my restraints before grabbing a fresh set of pajamas and waltzing into the bathroom as I curled up into a ball and tried to wake up from this hell.

She gave me some new underwear and returned to her bed, I gingerly pulled the covers over my shuddering form as tears spilled onto my pillow before I heard her haunting voice again.

"Like I said my pet, whenever and however I want. And, if you try to tell anybody about this, I will show you the fine line between pleasure and pain, so dry your tears!" she chirped happily. Hours later Ren and Nora returned home, sneaking past what they assumed our sleeping forms to be to change and get into bed.

I spent over 5 hours awake and choking on my own sobs.


	4. A Piece of Me (2)

**By popular demand a continuation of "A Piece of Me" who knows, this may become a series in this fanfic. If you got ideas don't be afraid to send them out! I plan to update "War" on Friday so stay tuned! Big shoutout to "That guy" who offered some great tips and writing examples, you were an inspiration for this chapter my dude so keep those reviews coming!**

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 **Another Piece of Me:**

 **Jaune wakes up after what the good doctor has put him through, but he's less than willing to settle into his new skin. Now his team and Team RWBY must deal with the fallout, and find Dr. Grossman before this happens again.**

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Jaune's POV:

 _I-I, m-my arms! M-My face!_ I thought sporadically, my hands completely covered the cutting board that used to be my face as I tried to wrap my head around everything that happened. I remembered the night before: being blamed for being a pervert, walking around Vale, getting jumped somewhere downtown, waking up in that psychopath's lab, and then... Darkness.

"Ja... Jau..."

I could feel my breathing become quick, and shallow. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, their sound a horrific cacophany. Everything was too loud! Even with my face buried into my hands things were too bright! I... I was a monster now, some mechanical freak of nature that had no right walking around! Getting modifications for physical therapy was one thing, but I just got turned into this horrific metal puppet! I buried my face further into my hands, my once anguished screams turning into muffled whimpers as I tried to sort everything out.

"Jau!... It's... -Kay..."

A voice? It was familiar, calm and clear but still strong. My eyes readjusted themselves in my sockets, an alien feeling that emitted a sound like the focus of a camera being adjusted. Slowly, I looked up from my scarred hands; my friends, my team, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha sat around me. Ren had a firm grip on my shoulder, not crushing but more like... Reassuring.

"Jaune! You're okay! We're here!" Ren said, giving a small shake to try and snap me out of it. His face was contorted into worry, his eyes searching all over me as if he was going to find something. Then it hit me: it wasn't worry, it was disgust...

Of course, how could he look at me now? His leader... His friend, turned into something like this? It's no wonder the poor guy could barely look at me, in fact, all of them just stared back at me with that same mixed look of sickening pity and morbid curiosity. The room began to spin like a carousel again, and I felt bile rise in the back of my throat. I shoved Ren's hand off my shoulder and sprang up out of the bed, ripping various chords and catheters that were stuck into my out without any regard. I made for the door in the corner of the room with haste and threw it open; slamming it closed again, I locked it and immediately sunk into the toilet where I proceeded to vomit everything I had left in me.

I stayed there, retching and dry heaving as I tried to slow my breathing. I could faintly hear Pyrrha pounding on the door, and the sounds of what must have been newcomers into the room judging by the frantic voices that I wasn't familiar with. Eventually, my nausea passes and I stand up on shaky legs; I reach out to the sink for support and I use it for leverage as I wobble over to the basin. I turn on the cool water and immediately go to washing the watery vomit of my chin and splashing the cool liquid against my face to try to rack my brain. Tentatively, I look up into the large mirror hovering above the sink to truly witness my new body.

I takes all my will not to run back to the toilet. I swallow hard and force myself to look, just as I saw before, my face was reduced to a mass of silvery scars that spanned the width of my face. My eyes especially had some work done on them -if that venomous green was anything to go by- as I saw a small mass of scars form a jagged starburst of lines out of each one of my eye sockets. More scars dotted the area around my chin, on my cheek, and even some on my forehead with the largest beginning past my hairline and reaching down to my left temple.

"Jaune! Is everything ok in there?" I heard Pyrrha's maternal and worried voice call from just outside the door. I whipped around and chewed on my lip, what should I tell her? " _Yeah Pyrrha I'm good! Guess I'm the Terminator now huh?_ "

"Y-Yeah! I-I'm good! J-Just, taking it _all in_ " I winced as my voice audibly cracked near the end of what I said. I cleared my throat and turned back to the mirror and removed my medical gown, _oh my god_ I thought as I viewed the disfigured warzone that was now my torso. If I thought my face was bad, this was an entirely new ball park!

Scars. Scars everywhere! That same silver color, but some of them spanning the length of my arm! I noticed a few things that stood out first, a mass of the damn things was accumulated near my heart, down the flanks of my abdomen, and straight down the middle of my chest. I traced an equally scarred hand along them, if they weren't so visible then I wouldn't even notice them, none of them looked messy or incomplete. No, these were the work of a skilled surgeon and top-of-the-line machines designed for work like this. No part of me was spared being cut up: shoulders, biceps, pectorals, and another congregation of clean slices marring my triceps and down the length of my arms giving them the look of a Halloween costume's makeup. I noticed something equally strange there too, more long scars spanning down the underside of my arms, right through the middle of them with additional horizontal scars along my wrists. I twisted my body with surprising ease despite the traumatic surgery I had undergone, but I began to notice some things out of place.

Every movement of my arms, the twisting of my body, or just the refocusing of my eyes brought this soft mechanical hum. Just like before, almost unnoticeable had it not been for the deafening silence in the small bathroom. My breathing picked up again as my brain soon went to work analyzing my whole body, and what it found nearly sent me into a tailspin.

Everything wasn't right.

They were small things, but the longer I looked for them the more pronounced they became. I began to feel something different, and I did mean feel in the literal sense because it felt like my nerves were on adderall. Every breath of the air conditioner, the slight movement of my feet against the tile, even the gentle touches of my own body hair were picked up by my nerves. I ran a hand along my chest and focused, sure enough, I could feel every groove and slight pattern in the palm of my hand and the design of my fingerprints. I could track it all so clearly that it began to feel second nature, when the current of air changed I could feel the subtle tug of it across my bare skin, and when I leaned in to the mirror things got worse.

There were changes in my body structure as well, I could _see_ them in stunning resolution. In fact, I could see just about everything: the grooves on my skin, the patterns within the scar tissue, I could even faintly see the outlines of veins if I tilted my head slightly. The longer I looked the more that I saw was wrong, but was that actually true or was I just imagining things? Did my ears look slightly displaced or was that just a trick of my mind? Was my hair always this dark of a blonde, no it must have been lighter right? I began to hyperventilate again as I heard the door to my hospital room swing slightly open and the familiar _click clack_ of dress shoes on cold tile.

"Mr. Arc-" I heard a sagely voice ask outside my door.

"Yes!" I responded too quickly and narrowly cutting off the man outside my door.

The man cleared his throat and began to speak, "this Professor Ozpin Mr. Arc, General Ironwood and I would like to speak with you for a short period before we can clear you for departure from Beacon Hospital."

I licked my dried out lips, "o-of course Headmaster, right away! Just, please, can someone hand me some clothing... And some gauze?"

0-0-0-0

15 minutes later and I was outside the bathroom and resting in the uncomfortable seat near my hospital bed, Headmaster Ozpin sipping his coffee as General Ironwood analyzed me quietly. They had gotten me a green shirt and some of my jeans from my dorm, and I used the gauze they handed me to wrap my arms up tight like a mummy's bandages after all, I didn't need to suffer a panic attack everytime I looked at my arms right?

"Sir, may I ask what's happened?" I spoke softly, breaking the silence of the room. Headmaster Ozpin regarded me carefully before nodding and looking over to Ironwood to explain the situation.

"Jaune, you've been in the hospital for about 4 days on a steady stream of sedatives while our doctors examined you for any internal threats." I sucked in a breath, "Luckily, we found absolutely nothing, while _she_ did implant you with multiple devices to augment your natural abilities we found nothing in them that could lead to her taking control over you. We also made sure she did not implant some kind of failsafe device inside you like a bomb to prevent you from going against her or as a way to assassinate some high-ranking official."

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding, this was good right? _So atleast I'm not wired to detonate if I get water spilled on me I guess_ I attempted to joke in my mind, but it really only turned out to be a halfhearted jab at myself.

"Mr. Arc, it seems that Dr. Grossman has implanted you with a variety of bio-modifications to increase your natural abilities as a human. From what we can see some of them are rather benign, increased muscle mass in your calves and feet, while others are major, such as your artificial spine, heart, and lungs as well as your new eyes." Ozpin said slowly, afraid he would set the boy off.

Jaune, for his part, swallowed the news carefully. He could feel it inside him, those artificial things, they felt slightly off like they didn't belong in side him (and they very well didn't). He nodded along to the two men's explanation of what happened, already knowing the gist of it considering that the good doctor told him in detail what she was going to be doing to him. The color in Jaune's face was noticeably absent, and he looked rather gaunt without eating solid food in a good four days, but still, he half-listened to his headmaster as he finished explaining how the investigation for Grossman was still underway.

"Well, with that concluded, we believe that it would be in your best interest to return with your team to sleep in your own bed and eat some solid food. I have arranged for the cafeteria staff to provide you with whatever you need, and I've also prepared some therapy for you to undertake as you readjust to your life. I've scheduled for you to visit one Castanea Sour: a therapist that should help you with any emotional stress you may be feeling at this time, I would have felt like laughing if I wasn't scared of offending Ozpin _yeah, I just got cut open right? Should only be a month or two before I'm back to normal._ I thought to myself bitterly.

"And I have arranged for one of my own to assist in your physical therapy, your new modifications are something that you'll have to get used to if you don't want to accidentally hurt yourself or others. She has a very personal experience in matters like this, and we both figured she would be perfect for you to have as a training partner as the Vytal Festival nears." explained Ironwood as they both turned to leave, "trust me Jaune, I know what it's like to deal with a new body."

I nodded solemnly again, clenching my fist as the soft mechanical whirring stung the air. Both men left and I returned to just sitting there, alone and confused until I heard a knock at the door.

I stood up slowly, "Coming-"

The door was suddenly blown down with enough force to send it skittering across the tile floor, the next instant and I felt something hit me with enough force to almost knock me over. My brain adjusted faster than my mind could handle and I sputtered as the red anaconda on my wrapped me tighter into a soul crushing hug that suddenly made me thankful for my new body.

"Gah! Ruby!" I choked out as she suddenly realized what she was doing and shot off from me, furious blush riddling her face.

"Jaune! I-I'm sorry! I didn't me to hurt you and I just got so excited-" I cut off her off with a raise of my hand.

"It's ok Ruby, how are you feeling?" she looked at me like I had just grown a second head.

"You're asking me! How are you? You just got cut open-"

"Ruby!" shouted a familiar heiress as she stepped into the room, Ruby's blush got brighter as she swiveled her head between like a confused pigeon.

"I-I-I'm so sorry Jaune! I-I didn't mean to be so insensitive!" she stammered out before opting to just stop talking all together. I walked up and patted her head slightly, before turning to greet Weiss and the rest of Team RWBY who looked at the carnage Ruby had wrought.

"Hey Snow-angel" I said with a tired expression, she just humphed at me and turned away saying something about how I was just fine. I laughed despite myself and Ruby took it as a sign of relieved tension as she giggled too.

Blake offered me a smile, "good to see you back on your feet Jaune, how are you feeling?"

I returned it, "as best I can, haven't really gotten used to my new body yet." I hoped that my internal meltdown was showing through too much as the fabric of my shirt brushed against my chest with almost agonizing sensitivity. Then I noticed something for the first time, the blonde brawler of team RWBY, despite entering the room with her teammates, hadn't said a single bad pun or innuendo this entire time.

I looked past Blake at an uncomfortable looking Yang, Blake got the message and stepped out of the way leaving Yang and I directly across from eachother. After a few moments she turned to look up at me, a watery film cast over her eyes that made a sharp stab of guilt run into my core.

"So, don't suppose you're still intent on hitting me huh?" I joked weakly, hoping that I wouldn't offend her or something. She shot her head to look me directly in my new eyes, I saw her mouth trying to form words but nothing, not even a whisper, came out. Then suddenly, she made a beeline straight for me and I braced myself for a beatdown, but what I didn't expect was something soft and warm pressing against me.

"I'm sorry." she choked out between hiccuping sobs, "I shouldn't have made you leave." She dug her head into my shoulder and pulled me into another hug, though not nearly as hard as Ruby's. I just kinda stroked her head and tried to reason with her, things like "it wasn't your fault" and "I'm okay see?" but it didn't stop her in the least bit.

"I made you go out there alone, I'm sorry." she whispered, and I just kind of held her there until she let go and turned to face me, eyes puffy and face thoroughly red. I put a hand on her shoulder and told her I was alright, albeit a bit hungry which made her giggle a little. I sighed a sigh of relief, I never could see a girl cry especially not one over me (damn sisters and their fake tears!).

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I burst into the cafeteria with gusto as dinner was midway through. I was hungry as an Ursa and Ozpin gave me free reign to get some food that'll help me get back on my feet, but I didn't quite expect such a strong reaction.

You could have heard a pen drop...

All eyes were suddenly on me in an instant, all conversation vanished and I shrank into myself. I raised a bandaged hand in a weak wave as I saw a few awkward glances and pitiful looks from the assorted crowd. I suddenly felt Yang brush up behind to face everyone-

"All right, go back to eating he's just fine!" she shouted and most of everyone complied, albeit if the conversation had to pick up steam again. I thanked her and made myself a plate of everything on the food pyramid, the staff served me happily with cheery looks and compliments of "good to see you again".

I sat down at our usual table to see my team already waiting there, food untouched and faces carefully guarded. I tried to ignore it as I sat down next to them along with Team RWBY as silence invaded the table. Ren looked like he was about to say something before I cut him off-

"Thanks for being there for me guys, I owe you." I almost whispered, eyes focused intensely on the shape of my mashed potatoes. There was another turse silence and I thought I had just made it more awkward before I felt something soft and warm enclose around me again.

Pyrrha and Nora both had me in some kind of pincer hug-lock, crushing my new bones as Nora sobbed openly into my back and Pyrrha just clung to me for dear life. I could hear people around us stifle giggles, breathe sighs, and cough awkwardly as my teammates bawled over my wellbeing and how happy they were Team JNPR was back again.

I wish I could've stayed in that moment forever.


	5. Her Majesty's Butler

**Hey everybody, back again for another installment for this story! Before I begin there are a few things I just want to say: one; a lot of you seem to like "A Piece of Me" so I'd be interested in co-writing a full-on story for it, giving it the time it deserves, and second; if you follow my other story "War!" then I'd like to say that the poll is up and it will be the only one I use to count the votes for pairings.**

 **Thanks again guys. Also, if you sent in ideas, I'm currently working on them so consider this a small filler if you will.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Her Majesty's Bodyguard:**

 **Jaune was never fully trained by his family, nor was he allowed to go to combat school. Instead his father, using some of his connections, got Jaune a new job that will train him in every aspect of life: the personal butler and bodyguard of Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.**

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"Jaune! Jaune where are you!?" shrieked a shrill voice from within the confines of a large and imposing gothic-style manor. Jaune sighed as he finished buttoning his vest, why his charge insisted on being so belligerent was beyond him. He finished getting into his work clothes and strapped his sword to his side, taking a deep breath, he excited his small room in the servant's wing and followed the voice.

He ended up behind the open door of his charge, one Weiss Schnee, and, even the though the door was wide open, he knocked tentatively. Inside the room was Weiss herself, the ice queen of the Schnee family, finishing up her makeup while huffing indignantly to herself. When she heard him knock he whirled around with an annoyed expression on her face and proceeded to chew him out.

"Why can't you be here on time? You're my butler aren't you? You should be awake 30 minutes, no, an hour before I am you dolt!" she barked at him, a less experienced man might have felt the need to snip something back at the little brat but Jaune just shook his head, far too used to that kind of treatment.

"Apologies Miss Schnee, but Klein made it very clear to me that I was to sleep a little extra after our previous day's exhaustion." he said graciously, Weiss simply huffed and turned back around.

"Do my hair, I must look my best for today." Jaune sighed once more, a reflex at this point, and walked over to her and proceeded to do as she ordered. The day would be a long one indeed; the Schnee family was putting together a charity fundraiser for underpaid schools in Atlas, there'd be a who's-who's of people from all across Remnant there, which, in layman's terms, meant that everything must be perfect.

You see, Jaune had been employed as a servant of the Schnee family for a little over 3 years now. He had been brought to the manor at 15 and had stayed there to be trained and to serve the Schnees as a sort of conditioning for his dream of entering a Huntsman school, specifically Beacon Academy. The deal his father made was this: Jaune would cater to and protect Weiss, and by extension her older sister as well as Mr and Mrs Schnee, in exchange for training in dust usage, educational skills, combat conditioning, and a personal letter of recommendation from Jacques Schnee himself.

Jaune's eyes crinkled into a lipless smile as he remembered the hell of trying to cater to Weiss's needs for the first couple months. The girl, for her talent and upbringing, could be a surprising handful thanks to her arrogant personality, no doubt inherited from her father, and need to be perfect. Sometimes, he felt so bad for the little girl; her family used her and Winter like tools to get a better standing in life and, intentional or not, deprived them of everything a child should have: loving parents, the chance to get hurt, to grow on their own, and, most importantly, to be children.

He finished tying her hair into an asymmetrical pony tail and left as she finished putting on her new white dress, outfitted for both combat and high-class style it was expected to be her outfit for her combat school (if that argument ever was won on Weiss's side). He waited outside her room for her to come out, and in fifteen minutes, she came out looking as prim and proper as ever.

"Jaune, the schedule."

"Of course: breakfast begins in 9 minutes, the guests arrive in 2 hours leaving time for some studying and cleanup, drinks and heure d'oeuvres 20 minutes after, you father's speech 30 minutes afterward, and then mingling with the party guests until 6." he spoke cordially and professionally, she didn't thank him or even react that much except for a little "hmph" sound. They arrived at the grand dining hall in the mansion to find her family already there, Klein giving Mr. Schnee his daily coffee -black- and a jinseng tea -all the way from Eastern Mistral- to Mrs. Schnee. Whitley, Weiss's younger brother, sat there with his hands clasped as he awaited breakfast to be served.

"Jaune, have you informed Weiss of today's schedule." Mr. Schnee asked, eyes not looking up to regard him.

"Of course sir, she has been properly informed and is prepared as such." Mr. Schnee slightly nodded and turned back to his paper.

"Jaune, what is today's breakfast?" Whitley spoke up from the table as Weiss went to sit down next to him, Mrs. Schnee flashed a glance at her son but thought better than to say anything.

"Crepes sir, banana and strawberry for today." Jaune smiled as he and Klein prepared to enter the kitchen, and he could almost swear a saw a collective tug at the lips from all the occupants at the table.

Jaune worked hard and fast to serve them their food and came out with a full platter of hot crepes, strawberry syrup oozing slowly and bananas adorning the top of it. He served them their plates with practiced carefulness and made sure to leave the cream for Whitley and Mrs. Schnee. They ate in perpetual silence, a far cry from his family's morning breakfasts, and he couldn't help but feel an ache in chest; both from being homesick and the realization that both Whitley and Weiss missed out on such trivial, but comforting, things.

0-0-0-0

 **4 hours later...**

The party was in full swing with many guess going for their third or fourth round of martinis and enjoying the orchestra that was playing. They mingled and talked with the calculated politeness common among rich folk, Jaune could never get into it with all the high-waisted coats and expensive perfume. After spending so long in such a soft and sleek world, he would not have minded from a somewhat grittier person to enter into his life.

He shook his head clear of the thoughts, loosely following Weiss -and by extension, Whitley- around the party to make sure she was ok. He wasn't just her butler, but also her bodyguard y'know.

He wore his usual black dress coat, white dress shirt, grey vest, and red tie alongside matching black slacks and shoes as he ghosted around the fellow guests. Something felt off, beneath the murmuring voices of the party guests he could feel a certain intensity. He mentally sighed, if something could just _not_ go wrong tonight he would be much more secure in his belief of a higher power, but alas, he tempted fate and everyone knows how that goes.

30 minutes late and still no signs of that quiet energy disappearing. He rested a hand near his trusty cutlass, Goldmine, and scanned the crowd for anything, but yet he found nothing out of place. No suspicious persons, no threatening message, no unaccounted for variable just that feeling of a powder keg about to go off.

His hand pulled on his walkie-talkie and he put his lips close to it. "West Wing check in this Arc... West Wing, West Wing check in this is Arc"

"... Sir, this -ugh, Art checking in." Jaune put down the walkie-talkie and made his way with haste over to Weiss who was lazily engaging in conversation with some other rich young men.

When he got close he whispered into her ear. " _The party's been compromised, don't panic we're leaving._ " Weiss, to her credit, did not react but just politely smiled and excused herself for a moment.

They walked briskly over to Mr and Mrs Schnee, including Whitley, and Jaune leaned in once more. " _Sir, the part's been compromised, we need to evacuate I've lost contact with the West Wing._ "

Mr. Schnee nodded grimly and excused himself and his family, they left through the double doors as Jaune alerted the remaining guards and got the silent alarm activated to send in reinforcements.

"Art was taken down by an unknown assailant, whoever picked up the call was trying -poorly- to impersonate him." Jaune explained as they moved down the hall near silently, near the end was a thick, metal door with two guards standing outside it. He nodded as they both prepared to open before disaster struck. The whole house lurched like it had been moved by some giants and an ear-splitting _boom!_ came from upstairs. Seconds later, cries of terror and surprise erupted as the ambush was sprung.

Jaune shoved the family as quickly, and gently, as he could into the safe room before sending the two guards in as well, he would keep watch over the door. It came as no surprise when, minutes later, a small detachment of White-masked figures charged down the hall wielding basic swords and guns except for one near the back who must have been some kind of officer given her weapon: a pistol/tonfa weapon that used dual berettas at the grips. .

Jaune drew Goldmine, his dust cutlass, and thrust forward with the speed of a true bodyguard. The leading fang member was too surprised to dodged and found himself run through with the tip of his sword. The others were quick to react as they fired of a flurry of shots, all of which Jaune dodged as he exploded towards a deer faunus with another burst of speed.

This one was much more adept and used her dual berettas/tonfa to block the attack. Swirling them around she struck diagonally across Jaune's sword sending him back before barraging him with more shots. Jaune dodged and easily cut down two more fang members as they tried to take him by surprise.

Jaune could hear Atlesian forces breaking through the ambusher's small forces, with the Schnees out of reach there'd be no point in staying. Jaune clicked the red dust into its place on Goldmine before aiming it at the remaining 2 fang members who had been pushed to a standstill.

The one with the tonfas spoke up. "Who are you human attack dog?"

"My name is Jaune, and I'm but a humble butler." he slashed at them with as much force, sending a wall of fiery dust at them, effectively disintegrating the unfortunate one who didn't make it out in time, but, although minimally, he could of sworn that the officer had disappeared right before...


	6. Needle in a Haystack

**Hello, back again with another chapter! This one is especially a story I would love to make into a full-length fic as I love the concept, only I would try to make it much, much darker. Lemme hear some feedback if you like the feel.**

 **Stay Cool.**

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 **Needle in the Haystack:**

 **Jaune is special, in a world where women dominate due to their special connection to the lifeforce known as aura men are considered less important. But Jaune is the most highly sought after man in the world for one reason: he is the only man capable of producing aura.**

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Jaune adjusted his tie for what must have been the 11th or 12th time for today. He gazed back at his reflection and saw an utter hopelessness in his eyes, the look of a man defeated one too many times. He rubbed his temples tiredly as he leaned onto the expensive marble sink, he looked down absently into the basin as he tried to breath in and out.

Jaune was going to be married off to the beautiful heiress to the Goldmine dust company, the second largest producer of dust in the world just behind the Schnee Dust Company in money and power. They were situated securely in Vale's council just as the SDC were rooted in Atlas's council, and that meant they were the perfect family to be married into and it just so happened the prestigious Arc family had a strapping young heir that was coming into the age of adulthood.

Jaune snarled bitterly to himself, this marriage was the talk of every high-class group of philanthropists and government officials in all of Remnant, seeing as how one Weiss Schnee was going to become a huntress and thus spare herself of being married off, he was the next biggest talk of the town. Think of it: the sole male of the greatest line of strongest huntresses in history being married with the beautiful and intelligent heiress to the second largest dust company in all of Remnant! It would be huge!

Jaune gripped the sides of the sink hard, in other words his own parents were selling him off to some hard-ass ice queen that cared little more about him than his _mother's_ family name. That's right- he was just the sole male of the Arcs, a novelty at best and an unwelcome distraction at worst, but the moment the Goldmines offered a chance for marriage was the day his father gave him a talk about upholding his duty to the family.

His father. A cowardly man who had been whipped into such submission that if his mother told him to eat his hand he'd ask "which one?". The day he gave him the talk was the day Jaune found he had developed a tic when his emotions got out of control. He hid his livid rage well, only allowing a couple twitches of the eyes to escape his rapidly cracking mask of placidity.

A knock at the bathroom door pulled him out of his reminiscing.

"Mr. Arc? Your parents have requested your presence at in the dining hall. The party has begun and you're expected to provide entertainment." came the voice of their head maid Sunny Solaire. An unconscious pull of the muscles near his lips did little to reflect the anger inside, _entertainment, yes that's what you are. Entertainment._

"Of course." came the curt reply.

In the world of Remnant horrific monsters known as Grimm are kept at bay by noble warriors known as Huntresses. What makes huntresses so adept at battling such creatures is their inherent connection to the protective lifeforce known as aura that shields them from injury and heals whatever cannot be absorbed. It does well to give a normal human an edge against these monsters, but additionally, this connection also grants them a sort of trump card known as a semblance. A semblance is a power or ability that is unique to each person and manifests itself as some kind of "superpower" furthering their ability to battle the Grimm.

Strangely though, only females have the ability to possess aura, thus they are truly the only ones who can fight the Grimm. Naturally, women rose to power in the world and throughout history there have only ever been female heroes of legend and only famous female role models. Men, instead, were shoved down the ladder of importance and took up the jobs of cooking, cleaning, accounting, gardening, and other more passive and safe jobs while women took on the tougher jobs. This institution of power led to the common principle of male subservience such as taking the female surname, being expected to come second to a women's more important tasks, and being expected to be married off at their mother's discretion.

The whole thing made Jaune bitter and resentful. He came to distrust any women, hate his mother and father, and grow emotionally distant from his once beloved siblings. His sisters had noticed and tried to bridge the gap between them, but, as always, their duty as the 7 of the top 10 huntresses in the world were more important and their relationship never changed.

Jaune exited the bathroom he had been spent his time hiding in and followed Sunny to the dining hall where more rich, snobby guests mingled with eachother to feel more important than they were. His shoes clicked across the shined floor as he could hear the drunken mingling get progressively louder as they neared the dining room. Sunny cast a glance at the boy she had taken care of since he was 4 and hid her grimace, she could see the small tic in his cheek not to mention those glazed eyes, they made her feel sick that her boy was going to be sold off like cattle.

They reached the grandiose doors and Sunny opened them slightly before stopping to regard Jaune. "It will get better Jaune, but you must be willing to let it get better for yourself and those around you."

Jaune didn't even react apart from another tic in his eye but she guessed it was most likely involuntarily. She opened the door completely and allowed him to step in; he took a purposeless step forward garnering some lazy glances from drunken guests but was otherwise ignored. He spotted his mother and father chatting up his soon-to-be in-laws Aurelian Goldmine and Sylvia Goldmine, they were good looking enough about as much as rich billionaires do with Aurelian standing slightly smaller than his wife with a close-cropped head of salt-and-pepper colored hair. Sylvia and Aurelian were both dressed in a fashionable matching pair of mahogany-colored suit and dress, Sylvia had hair as black as the night and a face that was all angles. Despite seeing them often enough these days he rarely truly looked at them in any meaningful way, their faces might as well have been muddled blobs of color.

He strode over to them to make a gentlemanly appearance as a man should. He got near them and their light laughter paused briefly as they looked at him, dressed in his three piece black suit and red tie they apparently approved as they flashed smiles that had won them all kinds of favors before.

It made him feel sick, like he was just surrounded by fake, plastic people.

"Jaune my good man, it's so great to see you." Aurelian said, extending a hand as Jaune took it and gave it a few firm shakes.

"Yes Jaune, and I as well." Sylvia replied, extending her hand as Jaune bowed to kiss it slightly.

"Mrs. Goldmine, Mr. Goldmine, a pleasure to see you this evening." he managed to choke out, trying to remember his lessons on how to greet distinguished guests. His parents nodded approvingly yet Jaune did not even glance towards them, one look would send him into a ticcing nightmare.

"Jaune my good man, your fiancee is over there mingling with those wonderful Schnees would you care to join them?" Sylvia asked politely, but Jaune knew that was an order more than a suggestion. He looked over to where his fiancee did indeed stand, talking to some woman -a Schnee apparently- and her slightly more rugged superior if the crisp, decorated uniform was anything to go by.

Yes, Kim Goldmine. The heiress to the Goldmine Dust Company and his fiancee, she took after her mother for than her father with a face of sharp, hawkish features that reminded him of that Goodwitch lady from Beacon and stark black hair with silverish streaks done up in an extremely tight bun. She wore a grey pantsuit and had a pair of slim glasses on her face, she stood slightly smaller than him but she made up for it with a calculated and intelligent attitude. Her knowledge of economic and government were matched only by her diplomatic skills and it was obvious those were nothing to scoff at.

Jaune sauntered over to the gathered group and nodded quietly as they caught sight of him. The Schnee was dressed in a white coat that was similar to that of Atlesian officers but she had apparently incorporated her own style into it, a red brooch hung near her neck and the tailcoat was significantly longer reaching towards her knees; additionally, her feet and legs were garbed in some kind of boot-high heel combination that didn't look practical at all. Jaune subtly raised a brow at the silver saber sheathed at her belt, she held a relaxed but disciplined stance as she talked with Kim.

"Ms. Schnee, Ms. Ironwood, this is my fiance Jaune Arc." Kim introduced in that same formal tone she always used when speaking, no matter the situation. It grated against his ears but he swallowed his displeasure to smile kindly at their distinguished guests. If the white-haired one was the Schnee then the taller one with the black pizie-style haircut must have Jocelyn Ironwood -A general if he remembered correct- who wore a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on her right hand. Her suit pants share the same color as his overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in gray.

"A pleasure Mr. Arc, I'd like to say you've gotten very lucky on who your mother picked out. She could not have found a better suitor." Ironwood complimented as Kim forced -more or less- a polite smile.

 _tic_

He lowered his head slightly to cover it but he was sure he saw the Schnee's eyes narrow. "Truly an honor as well General, and you in kind Ms. Schnee." he greeted with another forced but polite smile.

"Please, Jocelyn will suffice." Ironwood said as she raised her gloved hand slightly.

"Yes, you may call me Winter if you life." said Winter as she kept her hands clasped tightly behind her back.

"So, Kim, have you thought about your future with your new husband?" Ironwood said, trying to make casual conversation as they sipped their drinks.

 _tic tic_

"Yes, the Arcs carry a lot of weight politically so I am quite impressed about the choice my mother and Mrs. Arc decided upon." Kim said, gesturing to the aforementioned group of people somewhere behind them.

"Indeed, a fine choice for a fine heiress."

 _tic tic tic_

Jaune scratched his nose to prevent the ticcing in his eyes and face from showing but Winter was much to observant. "Mr. Arc are you alright" she asked politely, but before he could answer Kim took over.

"My husband has a slight tic you see, we're working on fixing it at the moment."

"Mmhmm." was the only response Ironwood gave as Winter looked at him warily. Kim talked more and more about the economics of Dust Trading, the increase in White Fang attacks, and the socio-economic policies between Atlas and Vale. It all bored him to death, but it was his "solemn duty as a husband" to stand there and make sure his dear wife would look good.

 _tic_

Yes, that was what he was. A trophy, a decoration, something to be flaunted and looked at occasionally before being stuffed back into the proverbial closet for months at a time. His happiness was not a factor, his father, his grandfather, and his brothers-in-law had all been raised in this, trained even. Like dogs.

 _tic tic tic_

Anger rose in his chest, not at anyone in particular but it was palpable enough he could feel the waves of phantom tugs on his face.

 _tic tic tic tic_

 _tic tic_

 _tic ti-_

"Dear, I'm going to step out for a moment. Excuse me Ms. Jocelyn, Ms. Winter." he hastily made his way to the exit and was withing a few feet when he felt something latch onto his arm. He whirled around to see his father staring back at him, impatient and curious at his hasty exit.

"Jaune what is the meaning of this? You do not simply leave-" whatever he saw in Jaune's eyes made him pause as his son looked back at him for a moment before slipping that mask back on, the ticcing in his face never leaving.

"The tics have begun again, I'm stepping out for a moment." Jaune said emotionlessly, like some kind of automaton. Jaune's father did not say anything, but he did let go and warily returned to his wife to relay some simple message. Jaune took the chance to step out of the dining hall and into the chilling corridor as he briskly walked down to the kitchen.

He entered in without a word and spared not a single glance at those around him, some hired catering staff and servants of the Arc family. One in particular, the head butler Floyd, came to meet him halfway.

"Master Arc, something the matter?" he stopped when he saw just how bad Jaune's tics had gotten, over the course of minutes it had transformed but slight facial tugs into pulls enough to make him jut his head slightly.

Jaune trudged over to a low-laying cupboard and rent it open without a second thought. Inside lay a few bottles of expensive wine, some fancy scotch, malt liquor, and spiced rum all the way from Vacuo; Jaune took no time in grabbing the rum and disappearing from the kitchen without a second thought.

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45 minutes.

 _45 fucking minutes of this was all he lasted._

And this was his life now. Rubbing elbows with the rich and playing househusband to some frigid cunt that couldn't care less if he was ripped apart by beowulves the day after they were married.

I mean for fuck's sake they threw them a contract for their marriage! He was mandated by the terms of the marriage to bare atleast 2 children, or one singular male female child by law. Not to mention the countless impossible legal hoops required for _him_ to divorce _her_ he also had terms that were aimed at him specifically: no unauthorized activities, no criminal activities, to military service, additional schooling when applicable yada yada yada.

Jaune had never been so close to killing a man with a broken glass cup than on that day. Damn it all the rum was hitting hard and fast, that crap always got him worked up in ways he couldn't help.

People tended to avoid him when he drank.

So there he sat, on the back balcony, away from his "family" and "loving wife" as he chugged a bottle of Captain Oro's spiced rum. It made him feel pathetic, what was the point of it all? He essentially had no say, this decision was going to come before his 18th birthday so his mother had full legal rights over him, but he could get married at 16 for some reason.

It was all some big conspiracy he swore to Oum above.

He sighed as he thought about the huge fuckup that was his life. He considered dropping himself off the balcony, _it would atleast piss of mother since she'd never find such a good opportunity to marry her kids off_ he thought bitterly to himself.

A useless father, an uncaring mother, a bleak future, and a frigid wife. Oh boy.

To her credit, maybe he could learn to love his new, terse relationship with his wife. Maybe he would be fine taking some business classes and ending up in some cozy job on some useless committee board. Maybe he could just raise a couple of-

No.

Hell fucking no.

He was a human being! He had free will! The gods above did not put him on this world to just submit and do nothing quietly and accept it with a fake smile! He heard thunder rumble overhead, but he could have sworn the sky was clear soon before.

He shook his head, it didn't matter. He needed a way out, somehow he needed to escape his mother's grasp and save himself. He felt warmth flow through his core as his world lit up slightly, damn that rum was good stuff!

He'd resist, he'd bite back, he would kick, claw, scream, and punch until he died or they left him alone.

"FUCK YOU!" he shouted, throwing the now empty bottle at the open, mowed field of his mother's estate. But, before the bottle could hit the ground, an earth-splitting spear of magnificent divine wrath split the earth asunder and vaporized the bottle into a fine powder.

The lightning had struck so close that the resulting boom shook the house. He could hear guests and servants run outside to check what was happening, but he could also hear the sounds of footsteps approaching the door to the balcony he was on.

Floyd burst through the door, worry etched into his old face, "Master Arc! Are you unharmed?!" he asked as his bleary eyes scanned the balcony to make sure his boy was still in one piece. But something was wrong, in the middle of the balcony, on the railing, was someone surrounded in a white glow, almost like that of an-

"Aura." Floyd breathed to himself.

Jaune turned around and quickly ran to his old friend. "Floyd! Are you ok what's happening?"

"S-Sir, I... We must find your parents." was all he could must as he saw his definitely _male_ charge's aura glow and blanket him. Without another word he took Jaune and ran down to the dining hall, when they entered they were greeted by the confused faces of his parents and in-laws.

"Floyd, what's happening out there? Is it storming?" his mother asked as she walked up to them.

Floyd just shook his head. "No ma'am, but we need General Ironwood and quickly!"

Almost as if on cue, said General Ironwood made herself known to the small party. He saw the apprehension on their faces and turned to face both Floyd and Jaune, "is something the matter?"

"Well sir, I believe that Jaune..."

"Jaune what?"

"Jaune may have an aura."

"What!"

"What?"

"What."

Floyd winced at the reactions but continued. "Yes, I saw him out on the balcony, after the lightning came down, and he was glowing or something. Glowing white I believe."

"Jaune, what is the meaning of this?" his father asked.

Jaune just shrugged and tried to make sense of it all. "Well, I did throw that bottle over the balcony and the lightning did indeed strike perfectly on it." he mused to himself, but surely that was a coincidence.

Ironwood exchanged looks with the gathered people. "I think we should end the party and get some rest, I'll be back in the morning to run some tests so please keep him here until then Mrs. Arc."

"Of course Jocelyn. Of course."

Jaune could feel something tie itself in his stomach. This was going to be the beginning of a lot more trouble.


	7. Needle in a Haystack (2)

**I know this may surprise some with such an update so soon but I couldn't resist continuing this little story as it my appeal to my tastes in some ways.**

 **Anyways, thanks for the support and expect much more of this.**

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 **A Needle in a Haystack:**

 **Jaune has found out that he possess the extraordinary aura. But, when his world somehow gets worse than it already is, how will he react? But it is at his lowest when a savior comes with a deal he can't say no to.**

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Jaune sat in a stark white room, again.

After that disaster at the party Ironwood had called in every aura expert and cutting-edge scientist she knew and trusted and set about finding if Jaune truly did have an aura.

One pistol whip to the head confirmed that.

After that he was detained and swarmed by an endless mob of scientists. Somewhere along the way the secrets had been leaked and Jaune could hear the chattering masses of reporters outside the military base clamoring for more information. Jaune could only grimace in disgust, the way they stepped on eachother just to ask simple questions that Ironwood would never answer.

It would have been funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

He heard the _click clack_ of heels coming down the hall from outside the hospital-like room. Jaune had changed into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt bearing a worn logo of a shamrock on it, he didn't have a whole lot of time to collect his things before being whisked away. Jaune closed his eyes as the sounds of heels got closer, _his parents_ had been ecstatic when they learned their son had the only aura of a male in history.

Oh yes. The promise of power and wealth had nearly quadrupled over the last week or so, where before his marriage to the Goldmines was a welcome use of him, now Jaune could be the very thing that could send the Arc family straight to the top. I mean, hell, they were already going down in the history books as the only family _ever_ to have born a son that could use aura!

Before the Atlas personnel whisked him back to whatever godforsaken place they were taking him, his father wanted to have a "man-to-man" chat about how important he was now. He found that funny for the sole reason he didn't really consider his father that much of a man, more of a trophy with a cardboard personality that someone he should look up to, and far from the realm of people who could lecture him on his duty.

 _"Jaune, you have an important role to play now!" his father said proudly, puffing his chest out to seem "Extra" manly._

 _Tic tic_

 _"You have been chosen by destiny to lead the Arcs into a greater future! So you should be quite compliant with all the requests General Ironwood and her colleagues ask of you, and don't worry we and your sisters have been given permission to see you every once in awhile when time allows." he finished as he put a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder._

 _My god, even when he could be considered the most important male in history all he was good for was serving others and making the family look good. Floyd did not question him when he took several bottles of hard liquor from the kitchen nor did he ask about the dreadful nosebleed Jaune had going for him when he returned._

"Mr. Arc? It's Dr. Howl." came the soft voice from outside the door. Ah yes, Dr. Howl, the leading scientist in aura experimentation and the head researcher for what was now named "Project Y". She seemed friendly enough he supposed, but it would be a cold day in hell before he trusted her; he could see it well, that maniacal fascination that all the doctors and scientists had when they studied him. Yeah, he was going to drop his guard for a second.

"What." he responded shortly.

She entered wearing her usual Atlesian doctor's uniform that seemed little different from an officer's. Clipboard in hand she addressed him, "Mr. Arc we need to run a few stress tests on your aura levels real quick."

"Go ahead." he replied in the same gruff tone, not even sparing her a glance as he zeroed in on the white walls. If she seemed offended she did well not to show it and proceeded to hook his arm up to some monitor machine that would gauge his aura levels.

Pressing a button, the various rubber patches on his arm as well as the black brace began to exert small shocks and pressures that seemed to fluctuate in intensity. Jaune grunted in discomfort and Howl stepped in.

"Good. Good. Your aura levels are truly something extraordinary Mr. Arc. Far beyond that of even some professional huntresses, in fact, we've begun to theorize that perhaps the dormant aura in males is naturally for palpable in size and intensity." Jaune just tuned her stupid ramblings out, every day it was like this: wake up, eat, experiments, experiments, experiments, and finally some wooden words of encouragement and some bleak praise before leaving him to sometimes cry alone in his small dorm.

Ever since becoming a lab rat for these doctors, a lot of experimentation was done on his aura and semblance both in the theoretical and the practical. It was discovered his aura reacted to negative emotions output by Jaune, and used it to draw electrical energy from the surrounding area, and with some of the more angry moments, develop thunderstorms that become completely under his control. Jaune can supercharge his muscles increasing his reflexes and speed, but also use it to simply vaporize whatever is in front of him. His semblance was aptly titled "Electronegativity" and many tests were done of its uses and restraints.

"Also you should know, Mr. Arc, that you are being expected to release a press statement later today." Jaune's had snapped to her so fast there was an audible crack in his neck, "Don't worry, we've prepared clothing and a speech, all you need to do is repeat what's on the notecards and you'll do just fine."

The tension was thick and heavy in the room, and Dr. Howl could feel it. "Don't tell me you're afraid of crowds ha ha he he..." she trailed off as Jaune's head jerked slightly every few seconds.

 _tic tic tic_

0-0-0-0

 **Later that day...**

Jaune stood on stage left, safely behind a curtain as his helper, secretary person or whatever adjusted his tie and looked at him with a smile.

"You're going to be just fine, just remember to read of the notecards." he said, stressing the end as Jaune nodded woodenly. It was just a brief appearance, but he was supposed to be the unveiled hero of the male world, and possibly the key to defeating the Grimm themselves!

Sure. Or, in other words, he would be stood up on that stage and shown off around the world like some carnival freakshow and everyone would just eat it up, Atlas gets the good press and the Arcs become famous.

Yeah. That's about right.

"Good luck champ." you know, for an Atlesian dog, his secretary-guy wasn't half bad. Atleast he had a sense of humor. He shook his head as the curator of the event -some officer or something- announced that Jaune himself was here to make a statement. He also asked that they hold off questions as Dr. Howl would be able to answer them better. That was Jaune's cue as he strode out across the stage floor to excited cheers and clapping, maybe even a wolf-whistle if he heard correctly. He swallowed another grimace and put on his best plastic smile.

He walked up to the podium where his coveted notecards awaited. He took a second to get situated and looked up into the crowd as he began.

"Hello. My name is Jaune Arc and, yes, I'm the first male in history to be born with an aura. I discovered my gift a little over a week ago at a party I was hosting, at this time we're unsure but we also believe they may have found my semblance. Fortunately, General Ironwood was there to keep me safe and provide... M-Moral support as the Atlesian council has been given full custody over my research. I am... _grateful_ for such an opportunity and have been c-counting my blessings as the staff here have provided me with some e-excellent care-"

His face began to tic more and more as he read off these fake lines. Ironwood? Moral support? What were they smoking? He'd rather be hanging from the rafters instead of being trapped in this hellhole.

"*Ahem, excuse me. The research is going well and I have been told that I will be integral t-to the annihilation of the Grimm threat. I'm truly... truly grateful for my family and Ironwood, who h-have helped me through these trying times." Jaune grit his teeth as he audibly choked out the words. His face felt hot and he could feel the rough tugging along his face and eyes, if any of them could fully see his concealed face they would of thought he was about to go postal.

"Y-Yes, there is much to be discov..." he trailed off as he fully took in his surroundings, a sea of eager reporters recording and an armada of cameras from around the globe trained on him. More rich and important folk scattered around along the edges of the stage, the front of the crowd, and in some stands above. Suddenly, almost without any conscious thought, Jaune's face was ripped in a snarl. Canines bared he gripped the edges of the podium before, with a sharp grunt, knocked it over with a howling _crack_ as notecards went flying and reporters backed away.

Silence reigned in the area as people stood dumbfounded, Jaune looked around and accidentally caught the eye of someone near the back clad in green, well, everything. She quickly turned away to sip from her mug, as if nothing was wrong.

Jaune head tugged roughly, snapping his head to the side and that was his cue to leave, he walked briskly off the stage where the same officer and a small squad of soldiers awaited.

"What was that! Do you know what-" she whispered roughly before being cut off.

"Ironwood, where is she."

"Not now, you need to-"

"Where!" he shouted, the officer looked taken aback before mumbling something about the stands above. He waded went to cut through the small crowd of soldiers as chatter began to return and Atlesian PR representatives tried to reign in the scene, one soldier grabbed his shoulder only to be sent to his ass as Jaune pushed her off.

"Don't you fucking touch me." Jaune hissed venomously, face still running rampant with tics and the like. He walked away stiffly as if he was made of wood as his head still jerked slightly, staff and officials got out of his way as he made for the back entrance to where the higher up stands would be.

He clambered up the metal staircase as he heard the door open behind him, two soldiers tailing him to make sure he didn't try anything but smart enough not to be on his back. He entered through another door marked "VIP ONLY" in big, gold lettering and found himself in a room with a few councilwomen, Ironwood, Winter, and the green woman from before.

"Mr. Arc." Ironwood began before Jaune marched up to her and grabbed her by the front of her pristine uniform.

"Where do you get off acting like some kind of goddamn angel sent from above?!" Jaune demanded as the lights flickered slightly, Winter took notice and her hand came to rest on her saber. Jaune caught the movement and jerked his head to look at her-

"Try it, I dare you." she seemed apprehensive as the two soldiers following him bust down the door, guns aimed and set to stun. With a wave of his hand Ironwood calmed them down and looked at Jaune.

"I understand Mr. Arc, I was against doing this but the _council members_ wanted this press release as soon as possible. They sent me the notice hours before you were informed of it, so I am not to blame." she said, throwing the two councilwomen in the room to the wolves, or rather wolf in this case.

Jaune shoved Ironwood roughly, sending her almost to the ground but luckily Winter caught her superior in time to balance her. The two suited councilwomen back off slightly as Jaune loomed over to them, a thin coat of white rising off him. The lights flickered and there was the faint sound of electricity sparking from within the walls.

"You did this?" they tried to sputter out some reply and Jaune closed in, a murderous look embedded in his blue eyes.

"Mr. Arc, before you fry our dear council members, may I offer a deal." one again Jaune's had snapped over to the speaker, the green woman from before who stood there nonchalantly sipping her coffee.

"Who are you?" Jaune spat angrily.

"I am Headmaster Olivier Ozpin from Beacon academy. I want to offer you a deal I don't think you'll refuse." Jaune nodded slowly, this woman seemed crafty, and dangerous not exactly someone to let your guard down.

"Ironwood and I have been talking along with the council in Vale, and we would like to offer you a place in Beacon Academy." Jaune chewed on that for a moment, there were a few things wrong with it.

"Who said I wanted to become a hunter?"

"Well, that was inevitable. The Atlas Council was going to enroll you in Atlas next year anyway." Jaune turned slowly to look at the two council members, back into a corner and desperately searching for a way out.

"What I offer, is you come to Beacon under the tutelage of some of the finest huntresses in the world, you stay for 4 years, and, regardless if you graduate, you will be given full autonomy over yourself and your future." she said, taking another sip of coffee.

"You have no right Headmaster! Jaune Arc is in the custody of-" one of the councilwomen began but was cut off as Jaune jutted a finger out at her.

"You shut the hell up." he growled, a singular arc of blue electricity coming from one of the lights and landing on his outstretched finer, blue webs of energy coiling and ebbing out from the point where it struck. The councilwoman backed off and remained silent after that.

"I have little training in fighting, I doubt I'd make the cut when compared to other, more advanced applicants." he reasoned to Ozpin who nodded her head.

"True, but this year's applicants have already been accepted so that means you must wait until next year to become a full student. In the meantime, I will contact some friends of mine to train you in the art of fighting if you will allow it." Jaune hummed at that, he didn't trust this woman but her offer was certainly better than his current living condition.

Plus, by the time they trained him, if he wanted out there'd be little they could do to stop him.

"Ok Ozpin, I guess I'm interested." He said coyly, Ozpin never really reacted instead just sloshing the coffee in her mug and taking a sip. But what he didn't see was the small smile she had as the mug was raised.

"I'm happy to hear it Mr. Arc."

0-0-0-0

 **So a slightly shorter chapter but one nonetheless. The next addition to this fic will not continue this story but may or may not be a fan submission so if you suggested one, please come back and read!**

 **Thanks again and stay cool.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	8. A Beacon in the Night

**A Beacon in the Night:**

 **Meet Jaune Arc: 19, a turned down Beacon applicant, and now a Private Eye with a penchant for getting into trouble. Some call him a hardass, but his regulars and friends know that he'd risk life and limb for the innocent. But when a certain Beacon official comes to** ** _him_** **for help, he can't help but feel something is amiss.**

0-0-0-0

She was blonde, that was the most striking thing about her. A shade lighter than my own tussled mess of hair and done up in a bun tighter than a Vacuon casino vault, and if her expression was anything to go by, it was a good indicator of her personality.

Professor Glynda Goodwitch, it was almost impossible for me to not know her. Especially when she handed down the verdict that I had been denied entry into Beacon Academy, yes I was a failed huntsman. I should have seen it coming really, a few months of training with my old man can't outdo some 15 year old prodigy with a scythe that shoots .50 caliber bullets.

After failing to get in I considered going to a shady contact of mine, but I thought better of it. Dad was already disappointed enough without me trying, and most likely failing, to get into Beacon using forged documents. Speaking of dad, when I lost that match against that mohawk kid dad sent me a letter the next day asking for Crocea Mors back; he wanted to give it to Joan to use in her huntress career and he mentioned I could come back home.

I could read the signs, he was disappointed in the fact that I, his only male heir and son, had lost outright. It stung, but I mailed back Crocea Mors and decided to stay in Vale, working as an accountant/secretary for some guy named Tauro Fernandez. A PI like I am now, and my mentor so to speak; see, he hired because of my skills in math and my ability to churn out paper work and case files so, besides offering me a good wage, he taught me some tricks. Now I got his business to look after since his retirement and subsequent vacation to some casino-laden place called New Reno.

"Mr. Arc, I am here on behalf of Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy." she adjusted her glasses, her voice bringing me back to Remnant."

Professor Ozpin, we talked on a few occasions before, nothing noteworthy just him saying thanks when I completed a case mutual to the Vale police and Beacon. That said, it surprised me that he sent a representative here to ask for some help.

"And what could the good Headmaster want from an underage drunk like me." like I said, that letter from dad stung.

She grimaced as the smell of liquor finally made itself known to her. "Y-Yes, well, Professor Ozpin requires your immediate help involving a matter of _utmost_ secrecy and _complete_ disgression."

I cocked an eyebrow. "uh huh, so if Oz wants me in on this then he couldn't have gone to the police or one of his associates."

"I'm afraid so, and, if I'm being honest, I am unsure as to why he trusts you with such a task but he has put together a file on it." she passed me a manila folder containing various documents. "His personal recommendation was to memorize every facet of those files and then burn them to avoid, ahem, _legal repercussions should they be found by the proper authorities._ "

 _Oh boy, if Ozpin is getting this serious then he must be in some deep shit._ "Ok, but what is in it for me?"

She coughed once more and slid me a smaller envelope. I eyed her as he opened it up and was greeted to the tender smell of freshly printed lien, my eyes and hands hungrily roamed over the assorted notes, 20s, 50s, 100s, all my three most favorite flavors. I counted it all up beyond the speed of a normal man at my age and whistled at it, nearly 4500 in lien!

"That's some money, will afford me some of that good stuff down at the Crow's Bar." I said, leaning back in my comfy leather chair. She nodded and stood up a bit straighter as she adjusted her glasses.

"Yes, and that is only the first half of the payment. Upon successful completion of the assigned task you will be rewarded with an even healthier sum, and a monthly stipend awarded by the Vale council." I leaned forward and let my eyes search all over Goodwitch for any sign of discrepancy.

"I'm not naive Miss Goodwitch, if you guys are willing to pay me this much then you must be in some deep, deep shit." I clarified to which she just nodded solemnly, I sighed as he took in his office. Drab, sort of unappealing and in need of a major makeover not to mention the smell of liquor that reminded me of a somewhat scummy biker's bar down in Vacuo.

I let my thoughts drift back to his shabby apartment, his mounting bills, and my perhaps soon-to-be-needed trips to the ol' AA not to mention the cost of the liquor itself. Nearly (perhaps over) 10,000 lien for one case and an additional monthly stipend for completion?

"Just what the hell did you bring me?" I muttered under my breath, half to Goodwitch and half to Ozpin.

I looked at her and swallowed hard, I was going to regret this. "Alright, I'm in for now. But, if I check this case file and I don't like it count me out, and if I _really_ don't like it Ozpin _will_ know that I didn't, capiche?"

She could read the subtle threat, and I thought I saw her fight down a shudder before nodding. "Thank you Mr. Arc."

I watched her form disappear behind my equally drab door and the sound of her heels on the dingy carpet fade away into the growing night time.

 _Oum what have I done?_

0-0-0-0

I chugged the last of my drink as I flipped another page of information in the dossier Goodwitch gave me. Holy fucking hell, this was something beyond belief, something fat conspiracy theorists rant about in their basements next to their wall of pinned newspapers and red lines connecting the dots.

A conspiracy to bring down the entire kingdom of Vale in one fell swoop by a currently unknown party. Mission reports of a "Queen" as the head not to mention other reports of rising dust prices from around the globe and that Torchwick's attacks in Vale itself. The braniacs over at Beacon pieced together some kind of timeline or theory or something that they were all connected and that Torchwick, the White Fang, and whoever this Queen was were trying to make a move of the city of Vale.

I poured another glass of whiskey and downed it all the same. If this was true, then just having this file could attract all the wrong kinds of attention and put myself, Tauro, my family, and my friends into mortal danger. Still, this was too big to be ignored, if all this was true then Ozpin had just shoved the entirety of his problems onto me and hoped I could hack it.

 _I should have asked for more, 50,000 atleast and an additional 75 when I'm done. And the key to the city._ I grumbled mentally, still I had dealt with cases of criminal conspiracy before, albeit on a much, much, much smaller level, and I knew where to get started. The file named a few names: Torchwick, Neo, Adam Taurus, the Queen, and atleast two servants.

Sighing I lugged himself up from the chair, I adjusted my shabby suit vest, red tie, and grungy dress shirt and shrugged on my coat. I got my sense of style from Tauro, just like those comic book stories of those PI detectives who would walk around solving crimes and shooting bad guys all the while dressed up to the nines. Apparently my old boss got the taste for it and made sure he passed it on to me, I tapped my left side to make sure my baby was still there.

Yep, Verdict was still there lying happily in her shoulder holster. Verdict, my Model 6 Unica-Dust revolver combo, was a welcoming gift from Tauro just before he left, and I've kept it ever since. The thing was stronger than most swords and I had bashed more than a few heads in with it, a fine cherry wood grip, black metal barrel and cylinder, and an intricate pattern sketched onto the entire thing resembling ivory vines.

It was ironic, I figured out, after giving up Crocea Mors, that my hands, while weak when it came to physical attacks, were surgeon-steady, even when sloshed, and that allowed me an natural affinity for accuracy. I could hit a target 400 yards away without blinking and could only get better as I closed in, my old mentor taught me the in's and out's of gunfighting not to mention some close quarter style called "Jailhouse Rock".

So I hit the pavement, dusty old shoes clacking along the sidewalk as I made his way to the downtown of Vale's night life. 10 minutes later I was in sight of the club, "The Red Room" was a semi-shady club owned and operated by "Junior" Hei Xiong. For the most part it was a decent place but I knew that behind those doors, prostitution, drug dealing, weapons dealing, information brokering, and other shady things happened all well within the knowledge of Junior himself.

He had stepped up security since a few months ago some psycho tore the place, and Junior, a new one. Both his nieces, Melanie and Militia, work as the security Overbosses of the place and I knew that I had seen them more than once dumping bodies into the old river. Still, the place wasn't without morals, 6 out of 10 of those bodies were would-be rapists and predators and the rest were probably some kind of scoundrel as well.

I skipped the line and went up to the bouncer, ignoring the indignant cries, as I neared I flashed them a silver card. "Sorry guys, is the boss in? I got an itching for some info he would be the only person to know about."

One of them grunted and stepped inside, ever since solving one of Melanie's personal cases, I had a silver card that allowed me instant entry into the club so long as I was within the rules. Snaking my way through the dancers and drinkers I came upon Junior working the bar, walking up to him I leaned over and said just above the music-

"Need some info, we gotta head to the back room for this." Junior nodded and waved one of his goons over to take his place as they both headed to the back.

"What's this about? Bringing me to the back room means you got a real itch to scratch huh kid?" Junior folded his arms across his chest and eyed Jaune wearily, the guy did more good than subjective bad, so that means he could, at any moment, try to turn his operation in.

"Yeah, I need info on Torchwick." I grunted, and he instantly saw the way Junior tensed.

"Why is that?"

"It is important beyond your pay grade."

"But not above yours?"

"Way behind mine Hei, but that's why I need to know." Junior nodded slightly before continuing.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing much, just what you know about the guy and any close 'friends' of his."

"Touche pal, I don't know much about him either other than he is essentially the king of the underworld here, and he has arms and ears that extend even into Atlas. His operations bounce around but last I heard there was some rumbling down at the docks." I nodded.

"Ok, that's all I need to know and if anyone asks this never happened." I slipped Junior a 200 lien note and left quickly. Oh boy, if this Torchwick guy was this powerful and he was just one cog in an operation to overthrow Vale, then I was in big trouble. Yet, the night was still young and I had much left to do, so, shuffling my way down to the docks, I pinned myself to the crates of the shipping yard and tried to scope out anything.

Nothing.

Which was wrong. Dust freighters, dust cargo, Schnee Company crates everywhere yet no dock workers, no security, no goddamn homeless people milling around which was a sight new to me. And that meant one thing: Junior was right, this is where Torchwick was, or atleast was going to be.

I swiveled my head around, I had watched enough detective movies to remember that whenever the main character starts putting together is the moment he gets jumped from behind. I reached into my coat and undid the strap on his holster, I gently pulled the gun out of its holder and cocked it back softly. I leaned around the corner of one of the crates I was hidden behind and listened for anything.

Sure enough, maybe a minute later, I heard the distant whirring of bullheads arriving. My eyes roamed the sky before picking out 3 or 4 black bullheads, nearly invisible in the night sky, making preparations to land. _So, looks like old Torchwick is out for a midnight milk run_ this was bad in more ways than one, I knew Torchwick was a certifiable badass and in my own way I was too, but this guy used a cane like a rocket launcher while I only had my pistol.

Not to mention what other kinds of armed security he was packing in the bullheads, I needed backup but the police would be useless here. I tried to think of who in my contacts could help me, Junior maybe but there was no way he was getting involved. Dammit, I didn't know any hunters and if I left now then I could lose this only chance at getting Torchwick.

I leaned back over around the crate and saw the man himself step out with his entourage of... White Fang... _Shit, shit shit shit! So the fang really are a part of this_ somewhere in me I was hoping it wasn't true. Just my luck.

Suddenly, I heard the somewhat distanced voice of what might have been a man shout something. Leaning over once again he saw Torchwick in a very compromised position, a blade at his throat and a very angry girl holding said blade. She shouted some shit about the White Fang I didn't really care about, but if this girl was coming to capture Torchwick I could consider her an ally in need.

The enemy of my enemy I suppose.

Torchwick suddenly turned the tables and sent the girl rocketing back with a single shot. I closed in, moving in between the cargo crates, inching closer to the nest of Fang who had congregated around the impromptu fight. Torchwick fired another volley, almost hitting the girl had another blonde, tailed newcomer not joined the fray protecting her from the blast and engaging Torchwick.

The friend of the enemy of my enemy?

Blondie boy was taking out some grunts near him as I drew ever nearer. I was smart enough to realize that in a fight between a Detective, some terrorists, a huntsman, and a criminal overlord the detective didn't have the best chances of making it. Some of the less injured grunts got up and the one leading them closed in on the girl with their weapons drawn.

 _Showtime_ I stalked silently behind him, Verdict drawn and cocked I approached within her field of vision. The grunt mere inches away from my gun laughed cockily and exclaimed something about a traitor or something. He stopped laughing when I pressed the gun to his head.

"Alright chucklenuts, get your posse here to lay off or I turn your head into a canoe." I growled, with a small wave the other grunts backed up and tried to divide their attention between the two of us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Torchwick ready to finish off blondie before yet _another_ pair of newcomers joined the fray.

"Roman Torchwick!" shouted a squeaky voice from another rooftop, some red girl with a massive scythe.

"Oh hello red, isn't it past your bedtime?" Torchwick taunted, giving blondie enough time to run.

The friends and the friend of the enemy who is also my enemy?

The grunts shifted nervously and I pressed the revolver harder into the back of leader-boy's head. "Hey black, if you ever chose a time to be useful now would be perfect!" I said, apparently enough motivation for her to get moving as she went to join the fight once more when Torchwick blasted red off the ground.

Seeing the chance the faunus leader tried to whirl around and slice my head off but, unlike him, I was still fully prepared and pulled the trigger. Chunks and spurts of red flew everywhere as I grabbed the body and used it as a shield, unloading the rest of Verdict into the faunus near me who were either armed with swords or two confused to shoot passed their now dead friend.

Luckily, most of them had no aura so I cut through them like butter. The bad part to Verdict was that her power led to most of the pavement around me baring a stark red color as I reloaded as quickly as possible. Another ginger chick, friend of Red's (?), landed near me and began to mop up those that weren't dead or dying around me, she used to spinny sword trick that looked good for a circus act. Dropping the hunk of meat in my hands I noticed Torchwick making his getaway, _Aw hell, not when he's right here!_

I loaded a fire dust round and shot directly into the bullhead's cockpit, the round exploded across the windshield and caved it in, creating a raining hell of broken glass on the pilots. Our little gang closed in on Torchwick as I could see him desperately try to figure a way out, I cocked the gun and aimed it at him.

"Alright Roman give up it, you're flushed. Don't move and the first bullet won't end up in your lap." Roman once again shifted his eyes around before the loud whirring of more bullheads seemed to apparate around us.

Looking up I saw more of the damn things painted against the sky, these ones were really hard to spot and, if there was no noise, I may have not been able to know they were there.

"Finally you dumb animals!" said dumb animals dropped from the ship as another claimed Torchwick as he used his cane as a grappling hook and sailed away into the night sky. I would have time to curse my bad luck later, for now these dipshits needed to be dealt with.

Black-girl stepped up. "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang, why? Why do you aid this scum?"

One of them sneered. "Like a traitor has anything to say abou-"

He was cut off as I landed a perfect shot between where I thought his eyes would be if not for the mask. Red sprayed across the pavement once more as the others slowly reared out of their shock; adrenaline rushing, pulse pounding, aura flaring, guns shooting-

My semblance activated. Time dilated, everything around turned slow but I was largely uninhibited save for a feeling of lag in my arms. I swiveled the muzzle of Verdict and unleashed a single piece of metal justice into the fang around me.

One by one they fell in torrents of bright red life. Red and Black looked horrified but I would ask for forgiveness later, I knew this kind; give them a minute of pause and they'll use it to shoot you in the back.

Blondie and the ginger chick seemed shocked and somewhat appalled but more or less shocked. The world began to speed up again as the last of the faunus fell in a heap on the concrete. Silence engulfed the docks.

"Y-You... Psychopath!" Black screeched at me, yeah not how I expected this to go. "They were innocent! And you gunned them down without a second thou-"

"They were criminals kid, given the chance they would have shot you as well."

"They were misguided!" her expression reaching horrified as the three others looked between them.

"I'm not getting killed for a few 'misguided' faunus." I grunted, Black drew her weapon as the blondie tried to intercept her.

"You wanna kill me kid? You wanna commit murder? Cause that's what you'll be doing." I snarled at her, another wannabe huntress with dreams of everyone getting along in a nice big family.

"Y-You, you're dangerous! That was-"

"Enough Blake!" shouted Blondie, he stepped forward towards her. "He's right, misguided or not they would have killed you, me, Ruby, and the ginger girl over there."

"Hi I'm Penny!" chirped said girl.

"But Sun he-"

"I know, but there was little other choice." Sun said, looking over at me he continued. "And you, may I ask what you are doing here."

"Private Investigator Jaune Arc, nice to meet you." I introduced myself, Sun nodded at me looking for more information. "I got hired to check out these dust robberies by an official source, I assure you I am well within my rights."

I was, this wasn't my first rodeo. "Ok, thanks for assist for what it's worth."

"No problem, but we should wait for the cops to give our statement. They'll need to hear about this." Sun nodded and ushered Blake towards the nearing sounds of sirens and I tried to meet who I assumed to be Ruby and Penny.

"You two ok? I saw that nasty hit you took kid."

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." she said, not meeting my eye.

I sighed heavily. "Sorry you had to see that kid but trust me you'll be there one day."

She nodded solemnly but Penny just kept looking at me. "You... You are the famous detective Jaune Arc!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at me.

"Ugh, famous? Kid I don't know what you heard-"

"General Ironwood told me all about you! I looked up your file and saw all your achievements!" Ruby suddenly seemed interested. "Only 2 years on the job and yet you have been awarded the Vale Police Honor's Medal 4 times for astounding service in the field of justice!"

"Look kid I-"

"You singlehandedly stopped the Marcetti Family _and_ the Spice Cartel's attempted expansion into Vale!"

"I didn't do it on my-"

"You were even asked to begin a case for-" it was my turn to cut her off as I cupped a hand over her mouth.

"Keep it on the down low kid, don't go blurting that stuff out!" I hissed, I sighed again and looked at Ruby who was positively enthralled by me.

"You... You're like a real-life superhero like Duncan Tracy or Iola Jones or Adam Pinkerton!" she exclaimed, swarming all around me trying to get a good look.

"Yeah, sure kid let's get you home." I took her over to the waiting cops and after an hour of giving a testimony and trotting my way back to my now comfy-sounding apartment. I got a ring on my scroll.

 _Please, accompany Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna home to Beacon, I would like to have a chat. -Ozpin_

"Just great."


	9. Welcome to the Jungle

**I know right? Two chapters in a couple days? Well I saw this idea and it inspired me to write a one shot about it, so you know how that goes. "Needle in a Haystack" will be up next for a chapter I assure you. Enjoy.**

0-0-0-0

 **Welcome to the Jungle:**

 **The Great War decades ago was to decide which of the two, faunus or human, would become the dominant race on Remnant. Unfortunately, the humans lost due to their poor tactics and planning, thus securing the strength of the faunus race. Now humans are the minority and the constant abuse and treatment has given rise to some dangerous radicals known as the Broken Fang. Jaune Arc is one such human going to the predominately faunus school of Beacon Academy.**

0-0-0-0

 _Woof, ok Jaune it's just your first day, no need to make a fool of yourself_ I reminded myself mentally, good posture, eye contact, and a strong voice will go a long way to make sure you aren't targeted. I need to remember what sis said: You can't show fear when talking to your faunus classmates, especially not when they are aggressive.

The bullhead jostled slightly and I sucked in a breath. In an effort to help minimize my perceived weaknesses my sisters made sure that I had gotten rid of my motion sickness, puking my guts out on day one would be the worst possible outcome. Despite this, I would not have minded if this bullhead ride of merriment and fun had ended maybe an hour or two ago.

I scanned the room and took it all in, maybe a hundred faunus students and a smattering of my fellow humans were packed inside the ship and awaiting passage into Beacon. There were a few that stood out to me: a boar faunus who was built like a tank eyeing my fellow humans, some kind of wolf faunus with a mane of flowing hair talking to another dog faunus, and a ram faunus blabbing on and on to her green companion.

My parents wanted me to become some more domestic like a cook -because lord knows I can cook a good meal- or something even like a police officer back in our home town. But I knew my place in this world, I needed to become a huntsman, and armed with good old Crocea Mors, I would live up to my family reputation. Suddenly the screen playing some announcement on the new Broken Fang rally was interrupted by the visage of the deputy headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, a lioness if the ears and tail were anything to go by, began an announcement on screen.

"Welcome new students of Beacon Academy, I would like to be the first to say congratulations on your entry into our prestigious academy!" she said, looking around the room, almost as if she was really there and making eye contact with everyone in the room. "We would like you all to know that no matter what you are, human or faunus, you will be welcomed with open arms and given the best education possible."

I nodded, a good sentiment, and if the reactions of _most_ others in the bullhead were an indicator, the others agreed. After the welcome her visage disappeared and the bullhead began preparations to land.

"Did you hear? The Broken Fang was seen interrupting a faunus council meeting and there were reports of molotov cocktails being thrown!"

"Damn humans, I swear they need to live with it. We won fair and square, so we get the spoils of war." I rubbed the old tattoo over my chest, seriously regretting getting the damn thing now. But I was young, or atleast younger, and foolish, and worst of all, idealistic.

I stopped eavesdropping and returned to staring into blank space, I briefly considered going to talk with the other humans but thought better of it. Better wait until there was less commotion as the others made sure their gear was all packed up and getting up to stretch. I picked up my small suitcase and inched my way towards the door quickly, trying to avoid the eyes of the other faunus students.

Unfortunately, I caught the eye of the large boar from before. I could hear his heavy armored boots thud across the floor towards him as I begged the universe _let him not be coming for me!_

"Sup human." snorted the boar as his mass encompassed my entire frame. I tried looking for some help and found none so I guess that meant one of two things: a fight or maybe, just maybe, I could talk my way out of this.

"Hey man, I'm not looking for any trouble."

"You saying I'm trouble?"

"Look man, did you need something from me?" he sneered and it looked quite, quite feral.

"Just saying hi to a _human_ here at Beacon." he spat the word human and that gave me a good idea of where he was going with this.

"Look, I'm heading back to my seat." I tried to maintain eye contact but he looked ready to blow at any moment.

"Not so fast human, I think you need to learn some manners." I let my hand rest near my hip where Crocea Mors was, I couldn't see his weapon but if his size was anything to go by he could probably crush my head like a grape with his bare hands.

"Leave him alone." came a voice from my side, Boar-guy whipped his head to the side and so did I. I saw a girl that I could only describe as a goddess, red and gold armor, red hair in a perfect pony tail, sparkling green eyes, a pair of equally red ears on her head, and a shield and sword on her back.

"So, the champion herself came to save a human?" Laughed the big guy, he towered over her as well but she didn't give him an inch.

"you boars, so confrontational." she hissed, a little bit of malice injected in there. That wiped the sneer of Boar's ugly head as he closed in on her.

"What was that you fox-eared bitch?"

"Enough, both of you." came the voice of one of the attendants who were stationed on the bullhead to make sure fights didn't break out. I mean, you put a lot of animals together, some of them very, very confrontational, and there is bound to be room for fighting.

Boar-guy grunted and left, so that left me alone with my savior. "Thanks for the assist, that guy is beyond scary."

"Don't worry about him, racists like him don't speak for all of us."

"So what's you name?" he smiled at her.

"My... name...?" she looked, a little surprised if he was honest.

"Oh, you're right, my name is Jaune Arc." _of course you idiot! It's rude to ask someone their name first!_

"P-Pyrrha Nikos." she almost mumbled, but I caught it anyway with my super good hearing.

"Nice to meet you, and thanks for the save." she kept looking at him like he had sprouted another head or something. "Ugh, everything alright there?"

"Do you... not know who I am?"

"No I-"

The bullhead landed with what I could only describe as a soft crash and I was thrown off my balance and landed hard on the floor. Pyrrha tried to help me up but I waved her away, better not to show any weakness now I guess. The bullhead opened up pretty quickly after that and on that day, I took the first step into becoming a huntsman and showing everyone what a human can do.

0-0-0-0

 **2 weeks later...**

Only two weeks into this year and I can't say it has gone super well. There was the whole debacle with initiation, Pyrrha having to save me from being splattered on the forest floor (yeah, real strong there Jaune) and then there has been this...

"Can any of you tell me why General Lagune's forces failed to capture Ft. Castle." Doctor Oobleck, a tortoise faunus if you would believe it, asked in his speedy manner, racing around the classroom and chugging his coffee.

"Hmmph, all I know is that human's don't put much thought into their actions." Cardin said cockily, he and I were pretty evenly matched at this point but he still had the occasional upperhand on me. But that was a low blow, the humans weren't just beaten back, they were massacred and it was one of the big reasons why the war was ended, to prevent another Ft. Castle.

"Not the most progressive person are you?" asked Blake from across the room, a cat faunus or so she liked to tell everyone. The lack of cat ears weren't necessarily and implication of her humanity, but we humans got a sixth sense for this sort of thing. I can tell a human in disguise or a faunus trying to pass themselves off as one, something we inherited over the decades.

Cardin growled and stood up but before he could make a move I stood up as well, he was on an upper level but of the class but the act itself made my allegiances pretty clear. Luckily the good doctor stepped in to break it up before anything bad could happen-

"Mr Arc, Mr. Winchester, do sit down please." he sighed. "And please see me after class."

The rest of class went the usual way and, when the rest were dismissed, I had to stay behind and get an earful from the professor. "Boys, I understand some of your tensions may be high, but you're training to become huntsman. And one thing I have learned is that when you're face down with an Ursa about to claw open you back, you'll take any savior you can get."

He spoke from experience, and in some deep part of me I felt ashamed. _Remember Jaune, you need to prove you are not some violent confrontationalist. You are a human, hold your head high!_ Dad would be pretty disappointed with me if he could see how I had been acting. We were let off with a warning and we both left soon after, my partner, Pyrrha, thankfully stayed behind along with my team.

"You ok?" Pyrrha asked, concern laden in her voice.

"Yeah, I just need to shape up a bit." what kind of leader was I being? What kind of role model for my teammates? "Lunch?"

"I like your idea oh fearless leader!" Nora shouted enthusiastically, Nora was a ram faunus, as evident by her horns, and she packed up a wallop in her punches. She made me feel like a kid again, and not the former extremist I was. Thinking about that caused something icy in my stomach, I would need to tell them one day. Faunus relationships are built on trust, if this gets out and they know I've been lying, it will ruin our friendship.

0-0-0-0

 **3 days later...**

"Pyrrha, do you know why I brought you up here?" she looked confused, and worried, as always, but still she shook her head.

"No, but... what is it?" I sighed as I shrugged off my coat and undid my buttons, her face got red and she began to stammer.

"W-What?! W-Wait, J-Jaune I just, I don't know if we should be going this fast! I-I mean, we're..." she trailed off as I took my undershirt off, revealing the black tattoo printed over my heart. A symbol of a muscled fist, clenching in its iron grip what looked to be a tusk of some kind but was really a fang. It was symbolic, a picture revealing humanity's urges to rise up and take themselves back from their fanged overlords.

The Broken Fang, human terrorist group.

Special Agent Jaune Arc. Specialized at information gathering, scouting, and surveillance. Personally assigned to picking out Mantle targets on no less than several occasions by leader Adam Taurus. Joined at age 14 and completed, with flying colors, 14 missions ranging from ordinary duties to highly classified, was even a candidate for the Broken Fang's "Jaeger Squad". A professional hit squad designed to "hunt and kill animals, like a true hunter does." Currently on the list of highly wanted individuals by the Broken Fang, for reasons unknown but most likely involving the sharing of confidential information.

My shame, my crime.

She choked on her words as she tried to reply. "I know, and yes I worked for them."

I fell silent, what did I expect to happen next? Well, if I was being honest, I expected her to scream for help, try to restrain me, or report me to the Beacon officials so I could be carted away. What I didn't expect was her leaning into me, and whispering out a reply.

"I'm sorry you had to come to this." I'm not sure I understood what she was saying, I'm not sure if she did herself. But it put me at ease, and the permanent feeling of ink on my chest was temporarily lifted.

0-0-0-0

 **2 weeks later...**

Dammit Blake, they're your team! Did you really think they would just up and abandon you? I couldn't think, I needed to find Blake and that other human friend of hers, they could be in big trouble. In my time as a Broken Fang agent I only heard of Blake through the grape vine as Adam's second-in-command and lover, he never even met her face to face. He had met Adam multiple times over the course of his short career, and he was indeed charmed by his ideals of a greater society for humans, but he never met her face to face.

Word from Team RWBY was that Weiss said something, so like a Schnee to do so, and Blake revealed her identity, and worse, her _former_ allegiance to the Broken Fang. I could sympathize, my team had accepted me in every facet and had the tact to keep it on the down low. Save for an incident involving Cardin, my secret was safe and Cardin knew better than to leak anything important. But Blake, she had a Schnee which was almost a death sentence right there. Now here I was, running around Vale looking for my human kin.

I thought of all the places she would go, and that didn't help to narrow anything down at all. My thoughts drifted back to them telling my team what had happened earlier to today and the human they met, they said it was near the docks. I sighed, _guess that's my only lead right now._

The docks weren't too far, I considered calling Ruby but thought the better of it. Maybe, just maybe, this was a situation that needed to involve us humans alone. Especially considering two of us were ex-Broken Fang. I ran to the docks at breakneck speed, the sooner I got there the better chance I had of finding them. I made it to the dock and spent the next thirty minutes looking for them. I had almost given up when I heard the muffled voices of two people, I couldn't make out what they were saying but I had a good idea of who they were.

"So, this is it huh?" I asked, rounding the corner to find Blake and the other human. The other one, a blonde like me, got up swiftly, maybe he thought I had come here looking for trouble.

"Jaune?" Blake asked, I could tell she didn't expect me to come looking for her.

"You know him?" blondie asked cautiously, I kept my hands at my side and didn't try to make a move on him or anything.

"It's all right Sun, I know Jaune." Sun relaxed and Blake turned to look at me. "Why are you here?"

"To find out why you're here." I responded simply, her team _was_ worried about her despite what she thought.

"I came here to see what the Broken Fang was up to."

"And to get away from your team?"

"That's none of-"

"It is, Ruby is my friend and I have spoken with her after you left. She's worried, like a little puppy worried it's owner won't come home if you'll excuse the casual racism." I sounded tired, and I knew I was putting on my dad voice. "Even Weiss, Schnee that she is, is at least wanting to hear your side of the story."

"Well, they can deal with it." Blake responded stubbornly, but then she turned around. "We think the Broken Fang is here for some reason, they've been stealing a lot of dust lately and we want to know why."

"Yeah, we think they're coming here tonight." finished Sun, Blake sent him a glance and took over again.

"We've come here to stop them, and we would like for you to join us." I cocked an eyebrow, but in my head I weighed my options. "I know you're former fang, and I know you aren't ok with what they're doing, so please help us stop them."

I turned away and began to walk back from where I came but stopped short a little bit. "I checked into their time table, turns out they didn't change the password, 7:36 sharp, they'll be arriving. Oh yes, and, they're bringing Torchwick." I left Blake looking dumbfounded and Sun looking grimly aware of the fight they were going to endure, if they were smart they'd put aside their pride and call Team RWBY.

Why didn't I stay? Why didn't I help them?

I knew why, but I refused to acknowledge it.

Blake moved on, and she's ex-fang now.

But me, though I may have quit, I don't think I've ever moved on.

Yes, scum like me will always agree with their ideals.

I was worried that I go back when I saw them again, maybe they would grant me leniency if I offered information. But on the other hand, could I really betray everyone I had ever known at Beacon?

I was more terrified than in my entire life.

Because I wasn't sure of the answer.


	10. Perfect Synchronization

**Ok so this one is going to be a much more lighthearted, and hopefully funny, one shot including almost every from our favorite cast of characters. Mind you I am a man, so don't get your knickers in a twist if I use a few stereotypes.**

0-0-0-0

 **Perfect Synchronization:**

 **Another fine day at Beacon, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the female populace seems noticeably absent. There's something brewing in the air around them, and only Jaune knows what it is. May god help them all.**

0-0-0-0

When Jaune awoke, bright and early on a Saturday morning, he immediately knew something was amiss. One does not live for 16 years in a home occupied by 8 women could can turn houses into dust and not know when something is happening involving the double x chromosome. There was something in the air, something that settled into his stomach like a lead ball.

Treading carefully out of bed he shook awake his brother-in-arms Ren who grumbled at his actions.

"Jaune... Wha- What is it?" he mumbled as Jaune continued to pull him into the waking world.

"Ren, do you feel that." with new vigor Ren's eyes shot open, being a aura specialist he could feel the energy around him and, more importantly, being lifelong friends with Nora he could feel when something was wrong.

"Yes, what is it do you think?" he asked, for once in his life showing some hesitation.

"I don't know, but do not wake the others up." they got dressed near silently and crept out of the room, passing by Team RWBY's dorm the feeling only increased within them. They slid stealthily down the hallway and ended up outside the haven for masculinity in the freshman class: Team CRDL's dorm. They were just about to knock before the door opened to reveal Cardin and his team.

"Jauney boy? What's going on." Cardin himself lived with two sisters and, while his senses may not have been as finely tuned as Jaune's, he too could feel it inside him. Jaune shook his head and their party escaped out into the courtyard where, suspiciously, he found only males wandering about in a confused daze. Gathering in some sort of de facto survival group, a motley crew of men from around Remnant huddled together in hush whispered.

Jaune quickly picked out a familiar face, Fox Alistaire, -and noticing him as well- they met halfway between eachother. "Jaune right? Do you feel it? Yatsuhashi says he tried to medidtate it to find its source but he says that its everywhere."

"Yes, something is not right in Beacon." Jaune grumbled almost to himself, the other boys took interest in the conversation and the whispered trailed off. "Did you notice anything strange when you woke up today?"

"Well, only one thing." he looked contemplative before continuing. "When I felt it in the air I turned to wake up my team leader, Coco, but before I could get near I felt some sort of demonic aura cloud the room and my senses. I grabbed Yatsuhashi and made a run for it."

Jaune turned to the others and half-shouted. "Anyone else have something similar?"

Dispassionate cries of "yes" and "yeah" echoed throughout the courtyard, the pieces were all there but there was something wrong. He turned to face the group and his teammate, he needed confirmation that his worst fears had not been realized.

"Gentlemen, I need a small group of men to head into Vale for a small errand, any volunteers." a pink-haired man and his comrade, who identified themselves and Nadir and Bolin, offered themselves as well as one young man named Bronze. "Ok guys, I need you to be quick and run into any convenience store, grocery store, or sweet shop you can find and look for the candy aisles, the ice cream aisles, and junk food aisles."

They gave him confused stares but nodded along, just to be sure he sent Ren, his second-in-command, with them to make sure it went smoothly, in the meantime, the men were too open out here. "Everyone, be as quiet as possible and get to the cafeteria!"

The others complied and not even five minutes later almost 90 young huntsman had gathered in the spacious area with more trickling in. Even the kitchens were silent, even though there should have been atleast one staff member around.

 **45 minutes later...**

45 minutes of torturous waiting ended when his scouting party returned, the aforementioned soldiers looking quite shaken. He ran up to them and his followers leaned in once more to get the proverbial scoop.

"Well, what did you find."

"Nothing," Nadir whispered, still obviously in shock. "There was nothing everywhere! No chocolate, no ice cream, no junk food, nothing!"

Jaune went pale and he felt his knees about to buckle, it couldn't be? The dreaded day his father and grandfather and great-grandfather only spoke about in terrified whispers? The day when men's souls would be tested, as well as their ability to run, had finally come to rear its ugly head.

"God help us all, its a perfect synchronization..."

H.P. Lovecraft once said that the oldest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest fear is fear of the unknown. Unfortunately, Lovecraft got it wrong, the oldest fear known to man is fear of a woman on her period.

Take the unbridled emotion, the horrid cramps, the hormonal mood swings and multiply it by several hundred women and girls capable of using magical powder to power explosive weaponry to fight massive monsters.

They were screwed outright, and, as if to accentuate the issue, a guttural roar echoed throughout the campus, for the women of Beacon, both transfer and native, had risen from their slumber.

"To Vale men! Run if you value your lives!" he shouted, rallying his troops into a calvalry charge. They sprinted across the campus at breakneck speed, Jaune could swore he briefly saw a cornered Peter Port and Oobleck by a very angry Glynda and Professor Peach, but they were lost souls to him.

Then it happened: the first of his party fell. She came from nowhere, a woman wielding a battleaxe garbed in Beacon uniform who he was unknown to jumped a poor soul along the left flank. He swore he could briefly hear a cry of "stop cheating off my homework!" but he, once again, had no time.

With that, some of his battalion splintered off, trying to find their own way as the rest of the females came out from the woodwork. The reaping of souls had come, and with it, the cries of agony and fear from his male kin.

"Scatter scatter!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, if they caused a confusion most of them could get away. The men scattered across campus, each pocket going their own separate ways.

Jaune continued to run, his faithful friend Ren alongside him and CRDL bringing up the rear, he whirled around as he saw Cardin tackled to the ground by a brown blur. Jaune stared helpless as an irate Velvet grabbed him by the ears and yanked his head around like she was trying to pull it off, all the while screaming near incoherently.

Given the time, Jaune surveyed the warzone around him. Bolin and Nadir held eachother steadfast as they too were cornered by what must have been their other two female teammates, a green-haired punk skater and what he could only described as a lioness of a women who closed in on them.

Looking elsewhere yielded less than hopeful results, he saw one man breathed deeply before blindfolding himself with a tie and giving himself up to the three females surrounding him. Jaune hit the pavement again when he saw Yang punch another poor soul across the courtyard, hair ablaze and clearly not willing to talk things out rationally.

He hooked up with Ren, Fox, and Sun who bolted for the guest dorms. "Fox! Where's Yatsuhashi?!"

Fox shook his head and looked like he was about to cry. "He pushed me out of the way of an oncoming Coco Adel who was angry at Yatsu for stepping on her purse again!"

 _Truly a man of honor, thank you Yatsuhashi_ Jaune thought, offering a silent prayer for his fellow man. They were halfway there before an unconscious Port blocked their path, flung by an invisible force.

"Mercy." he heard Sun whisper to himself as an irate Goodwitch stepped forth from the smoking hole of the administative building.

"That's for making me handle Saturday detention by myself again!" she shifted her glare over to the four man who tried to hold their ground in the face of a charging Goliath. "And you lot, did you think I forgot about your little foodfight?!"

She lumbered towards them but stopped as one Doctor Oobleck crawled out of the hole in the building, she hummed to herself before turning back to them. "Consider yourselves lucky that Oobleck had dropped his coffee on my blouse three consecutive times last week."

She walked towards the pleading man and Team JASR (Jasper) decided it was time to run again. Jaune tried to ignore the sounds of begging and pain that echoed around the campus, all around him he could irate females taking out their aggression on their male colleagues, some for realistic reasons (if the cry of "stop looking up my skirt!" was anything to go by) and others for rather petty reasons ("stop taking the last slice of pizza just to spite me!").

The men were within sight of their temporary haven of safety, but before they could reach it a deafening war whoop sounded. And on high she descended from the clouds as Nora Valkyrie sailed overhead and landed in front of them.

"Sorry guys, but Ren and I need to have a chat!" she chirped cheerfully, it might have been innocent before she added: "Now get out of my way or I break your legs!"

"Nora we won't give you Ren-" Jaune was cut off by the man himself offering a hand on his shoulder. "Ren..."

"Don't worry Jaune, I've been through this before and I'm the only that can stop her now." he sighed dramatically. "Go on without me brother."

Jaune bit back some tears as Fox and Sun nodded. "Of course Ren, but you come back you hear me?"

"I always do."

And with that Jaune, Fox, and Sun ran past the valkyrie and burst into the guest dorms.

"Now Nora..."

 **20 minutes later...**

The remaining few, Fox, Jaune, and Sun, stood huddled in a small dorm that used to occupy the members of Team SSSN. From last they heard, Neptune was being surrounded by some angry girls that he had mistakenly flirted with time and time again, and the other two, Scarlet and Sage if Jaune remembered correctly, ran into hiding and have not been seen since.

Fox has had no contact with the rest of his team and Jaune has already had time to accept Ren's fate. For now, they pray that this will all blow over soon enough and they can go back to being a team.

"Man this sucks, Jaune have you ever had to deal with this before?" Sun whined as he leaned against the door, Jaune tried to think back to his childhood and only one memory came to mind.

"Well, my dad did, one time, take me and Grandpa out on a surprise fishing outing which he never does because he's afraid of fish." Jaune recalled the manic look in his dad's eyes when he got Jaune that day, so maybe his sisters and mother had experienced something similar.

"Regardless, it will be a week before this blows over." sighed Fox, and Jaune wholeheartedly agreed _that is, if there is anything of Beacon left by that time._

Suddenly, the guest dorms rumbled and they heard someone ascending the stairs to their room. The gathered men hushed as they heard what could be their impending doom pass over their room like the grim reaper. The footsteps echoed down the hall and faded away into nothingness and Sun let out a breath.

"Thank god that's-" the door exploded inward, sending the unfortunate monkey faunus sailing across the room and straight into Fox. Jaune coughed and tried to clear his vision as the figure stepped through the door, and, much how Ren knew his time was up, Jaune knew he was about to make the sacrifice of his life.

"N-now Pyrrha." Jaune began as his partner stepped through the doorway, she had a fake smile plastered onto her face as she responded sweetly.

"What Jaune? I only want to talk to you about something." she kept that smile, not unlike how Nora was, as she closed in.

"Fox, Sun, get out the window I'll hold her off."

Fox nodded as Sun was already halfway out. "We'll never forget this, good luck and godspeed."

"Now Jaune, I'd like to talk about some feelings that need to be brought up..."

0-0-0-0

 **1 week later...**

"And that's how I broke my arm _and_ how I learned something new about my partner!" Jaune finished his story to the occupants of medical ward 3-A. They all murmured their condolences and congratulations on his new relationship. It had been a week since "The Red Incident" and everything had mostly returned to normal, Headmaster Ozpin had ordered detention for almost every female on campus until the end of the Vytal Festival and they were currently working on repairing the school.

Everyday so far he and his fellow comrades had gotten letters and flowers detailing condolences from the female population of the school. Pyrrha he thought would break down with how much she was freaking out, it's not everyday that you break your crush's arm, admit your feelings, and then carry him to the hospital. She had sent him cards everyday, visited atleast twice that, had her mother apologize for her, called _his_ parents and apologized, and cried her fair share of tears both happy and regretful.

Poor Ren ended up only with a sprained ankle and was in charge of Nora who was apologizing quite profusely while hanging off of him, probably not good for his ankle. Cardin would get out within a couple months with those injuries but he considered himself lucky to survive, Yatsuhashi was built like a tank so he made it out largely unscathed if a little exasperated.

The other men were being treated as they spoke, Sun ended up getting scratched something awful by Blake. And Neptune, he was sure, got kicked in his pearls atleast 4 times consecutively, in which he swore to lay off the flirting for awhile. His friends in ward 3-A had their own stories to tell and it helped pass the time, but man did his arm itch something terrible.

Maybe he'd guilt trip Pyrrha just a little today.

0-0-0-0

 **And there you go, a short, nonsensical chapter that meant nothing. A little more lighthearted than my usual stuff but don't feel singled out by it. I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers here. If the characters are too OOC, well it is what it is. And anyone wanting to tell me how unaccurate this is can get lost, I know this isn't accurate. If you're wondering why the girls decided to destroy the school, well I'm reminded of the short skit "Menstruation Orientation" by Key and Peele.**

 _ **"When women be hanging out together their periods sync up!" Keegan Michael, 2015.**_


	11. Among Friends and Monsters

**Ok here is a chapter that should be a full fic in my humble opinion. I borrowed some obvious things from the TV show Supernatural but I tried to keep it my own thing. Sorry for a lack of updates lately, the next chapter of "Needle in a Haystack" is on its way so please be patient!**

0-0-0-0

 **Among Monsters and Friends:**

 **Years ago, when the great hunting wars ended, a school was opened to promote unity and kindness between monster and human kind. Despite this, the campus lifestyle is at great odds with eachother, hunger pains, natural instincts, and old grudges make for a volatile place. Enter Jaune Arc, a regular old human who got in because he used to be a magician during the war. But he may be something else entirely.**

0-0-0-0

 _"God dammit." Jaune croaked out, his throat too clogged with his own blood. Poor, poor Jaune was somewhere in the godforsaken desert of Vacuo, acting as a sensor for a hunter's garrison, when his troop was ambushed by Lamias. The hunters, caught unaware but not entirely unarmed, fought back to the best of their abilities but still suffered massive losses._

 _Jaune had been considered one of those "losses", the poor boy had gotten cut off from his fellow soldiers and, injured by the claws of one of his enemy, was surely dying alone among the shifting sands. The stars rose overhead, the lack of light illuminating the sky overhead in a beautiful visage, meanwhile the temperature dropped icily on the desert floor._

 _Jaune stumbled and hit the sand, pain screamed through the wound in his side but he cared not. Soon enough he would die, and he would go down as one of many warriors in the Arc family line. "Not such a bad last sight." he mumbled quietly to no one, still he would miss his family but they would join him one day._

 _The boy's eyes closed tiredly, this is it, the moment he had been waiting for. Darkness surrounded him, but, even in his unconscious, dream-like state, he knew he had not passed on._

 _"_ ** _It seems we have found one. So close to the edge as well._** _"_

 _" **Yes, your thoughts?** "_

 _" **Need you ask? We can both feel his desire to stay here.** "_

 _" **So you will sire him then? I will not have a newborn following me around.** "_

 _" **Always so sentimental, so be it. I shall get the boy home myself...** "_

0-0-0-0

 **4 years later...**

Beacon Academy, ever since the ending of the Great Hunting Wars it had been turned into an academy to promote good will between the humans and the kin of fallen beasts, or monsters if you will.

Yes monsters. In the world of Remnant there are ancient stories talking of the rise of monsters from the dark, uncharted recesses of the human world, and how they came to battle with the humans time and time again. Werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, and even Dragons were just some of the few creatures said to have been slayed by mankind. Humans, although vastly inferior to their monster enemies, developed a system of teamwork and coalition to spread knowledge on their enemy's weaknesses, during this time they developed an inherent ability to channel energy resting in the air and world around them to help aid their fight, this energy was soon deemed "magic" and thousands of humans took to it.

The last war, started when Jaune was only 10 or so, lasted just over a decade. Jaune Arc had volunteered at 16 and served for only 7 months before his tragic accident befell him, yet he was one of the few that did not die that day. For unknown reasons they found him stumbling back towards the base days from the ambush, exhausted and showing signs of battle but without any permanent wounds.

He was discharged with full honors and a purple heart. And, when Project Beacon was created by the governments of humankind and of monsters started, he earned himself a spot there to rekindle his academic passions and develop new relationships with the so-called monsters.

"Ok Jaune, remember that you guys aren't enemies anymore, just people." Jaune whispered to himself, he boarded the bullhead and soon found that his fellow students did not share the same sentiment. The ship itself had been clearly divided into two separate factions: human and monster. One the "monster side" he picked out a few students from the line up, a yellow-haired beauty and her much smaller, red-haired companion, an exotic redhead (though deeper than the aforementioned one), and a green-robed man who sat quietly to himself.

On the "human side" he saw maybe a few notable people, a snow angel if he ever saw one, a pair of twins who dressed in mostly white and red respectively, and a buff ginger man who continually sent glares to the assorted people from across the aisles.

 _Remember Jaune: Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!_ with this in mind he steeled his body and spirit and boldly stepped over to the monster side of the bullhead. And he almost instantly regretted it when he could feel dozens of eyes snap to him; he sat there, sweating bullets next to the green man he saw before, as both human and monster eyed him wearily.

"L-Lovely weather isn't it?" Jaune asked in what must have been the most awkward small talk of the millenia.

"Yes, I enjoy the sunshine." greenbean responded professionally, _well it isn't instantly "don't speak to me human scum"_

The two devolved into silence, he had just gotten used to the tension when a firm hand found itself directly on Jaune's shoulders. Swallowing hard, Jaune turned to look at his new "friend."

He turned around and saw a blue-haired man with his hand placed on Jaune's shoulder. He was slightly smaller than Jaune but his features were too smooth, too pale to be anything other than a vampire. Born, not sired due to the rather "pureblood" look he gave off as well as the natural shape and angle of his face.

Decapitation would do him in anyway.

 _No, we're not enemies he could just be looking for a friend._

"So, you're a hunter huh? Ever kill a vampire?" blueberry asked slickly, _ok so that was a no_

"I'd ugh, rather not talk about it." Jaune said, hoping he would just let go and not cause trouble.

"Really? If I was human I'd love to talk about all the monsters I killed." he said a little louder this time, catching the attention of several people around him. "Yeah, I mean who wouldn't want to brag about killing werewolves, and vampires, and shapeshifters y'know?"

The crowd around him shifted, he suddenly felt really alone. Despite knowing it would only cause problems he looked to his fellow humans for help, luckily the big ginger stood up as well as one or two more did as well.

Before they could do anything green-guy shot his hand out and grasped blueberry's outstretched arm tightly. "Leave him alone, he hasn't done anything to you."

"Yeah, Last time I checked this was a school to promote cooperation." piped up the blonde-chick from earlier, slightly shouting due to being in the back.

Blueberry growled but let go, yet the tension in the room didn't decrease a fraction.

"Look, I'm sorry for him, we aren't all like that." Greenie said, still reading his book. _Monsters as a whole, or just vampires?_

"Don't worry about it, but I'm going to go sit with my fellows over there." Jaune said quietly, Greenie let out a disappointed sigh but didn't say anything else.

Jaune walked briskly over to the relative safety of his own kind and sat down, pretty soon the big ginger guy came over along with another guy whose sandy blonde hair looked like it covered his eyes.

"You gotta have some major balls to do that man." ginger started, he looked over at the monster side of the bullhead and sneered. "But I respect that, not backing down when those freaks came after you."

"Yeah, Jaune Arc." he said, putting out a hand.

"Cardin Winchester, and the guy behind me is Dove Bronzewing. We were in the same unit back in the war." he said, shaking his hand and then shaking Dove's.

"You were in the war? What did you do?" Jaune asked interested in his new friend, he smiled proudly and jabbed a thumb into his chest.

"Me and Dove here, were both part of "Thunder Titans", 4th Garrison." Jaune whistled lowly at that,"Thunder Titans" was known to be the best bomb-handling division in the whole army. They took out anything too big to bring down with regular arms. "And what about you? Did you fight?"

Jaune smirked. "You bet your ass I did. 6th garrison, "Magician's Tricks".

"Well hot damn, guess you know your magic huh?"

You see, during the Great War hunter's devised garrisons to hold different divisions designed to complete certain tasks. For example, "Pest Control" dealt with insectoid creatures as well as the incineration of nests, hives, and infected people too far gone. "Magician's Tricks" was a specialized division that used magic to aid hunter garrisons in the areas of combat, sensory, healing, and tactics using various spells and incantations. Jaune, having learned from a young age tricks and spells to help him, was put into this division and sent to act as a sensor for whatever garrison he was joining.

The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. " _Ladies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our descent now. Please find your seat and listen to this information regarding Beacon."_

Suddenly, a projection came to life in the middle of the bullhead for all too see, it depicted the Deputy Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch, a powerful and well-known witch within her own right, who seemed to stare back at the students.

" _Students, I am happy to welcome you to your new home for the next 5-8 years: Beacon Academy. First, I would like to explain some rules and expectations to you new arrivals."_ she took a moment to adjust her glasses. " _There is to be no fighting at all done on the campus or in Vale. If we have received word of any fighting you will face expulsion and a subsequent inquiry on the nature of this fight. Please, keep an open mind when coming here, this place has been built to reconnect with a whole new world and to make friends, don't waste it._ "

There were some murmurs at that but she could not hear them. " _Finally, any and all hungers, special requirements, and cycles have been planned for accordingly. We have top-of-the-line facilities and staff to help placate some of your more... carnal desires._ "

She didn't need to spell it out for anyone here. Many different species of monster went through periods of bloodlust and desires -werewolves on the full moon, whispers during the solar eclipse, Amazons every two years- which were well known. Jaune was surprised to hear their explanation, to be honest he had no clue what their plan might have been.

The bullhead began her descent towards Beacon and yet the mood had not lifted, glares and low growls were thrown by both sides which didn't help. And, when the bullhead's doors finally opened, Jaune was among one of the first people out of the oppressive metal coffin.

The school was amazing to look at, the government spared absolutely no expense when making it. The concrete buildings were built and high and seemed to be brand new, the courtyard was ripe with fresh flowers, and even the brick path was in pristine condition. Jaune didn't have much time to marvel at it as the group of monsters and humans, still easily divided in two, walked towards the lecture hall for a more detailed orientation.

Jaune found himself with Cardin and Dove as they walked together towards the hall. "Man I'm not sure how or why we're going to be sharing this place with monsters."

Dove nodded to Cardin's sentiment. "Yeah, I mean what if there is an attack."

"Don't worry, the teachers here would never let that happen." Jaune paused before continuing. "And I mean we're all trained hunters right?"

They nodded, Cardin with a smirk, as they neared the hall. Suddenly, they heard the telltale sounds of conflict -what seemed to be a small explosion and sounds of shouting- Cardin, Dove, and Jaune looked at eachother for a moment.

"I'll go check it out, and if I need help I'll yell." Jaune said as he ran towards the place where they heard the sounds. Jaune, after running through some bushes, silver knife clenched in hand, came to another courtyard although much smaller than the main one.

In the middle was the white-haired "snow angel" who was on the bullhead scolding a much smaller red-haired kid who just looked at the ground sheepishly. Jaune walked briskly over to them, he was unsure if the redhead was human or not but he tried to judge her from afar. Soft features, but not too soft for a vampire, the red hair could be an indicator, perhaps a shojo then?

Damn, he didn't have the necessary tools to kill it then, but he could trap it for the time being if things got out of hand. "Is everything alright over there!?"

They both turned to see him walk up, the white-girl seemed rather annoyed but the redhead timidly looked at him.

"Yes, it's just this _dunce_ almost blew up some of my ingredients." hissed the white-haired girl, if it was possible, redhead sank into herself. _Ingredients? So she must be a magician like me._

"I said I was sorry." redhead whispered, she looked damn near tears.

"Alright guys enough. Let's get going to the lecture hall." snow angel huffed and redhead looked at him a little happier. "I'm Jaune Arc, and you are?"

"Weiss Schnee, practitioner of magical arts." snow angel said, if she was a Schnee then she must be a damn fine magician. The Schnees have a hereditary ability to control magic and have made millions in lien off it. Their reputation is disputable among the hunter community, for in the last war they took a neutral stance and supplied both sides with ingredients, potions, and spells.

"And I'm Ruby Rose, an Akuma demon!" cheered the now-named Ruby. _Akuma demon huh? Never thought I'd see one in person._

- _Akuma demons are creatures known for their fiery red hair and eyes. Their presence is thought to bring misfortune to those who see them_ -

"Well the lecture hall is over there, I'll see you two around." I began to walk away as Weiss did the same, but I soon found Ruby following my steps. "You alright kid?"

"Y-Yeah its just that... my sister left me here alone and I don't really have any other friend so would you mind me tagging along?" normally I would say no, on account my two new friends were hunters like me, but she seemed harmless enough so who cares.

"Alright kid, follow me and try not antagonize my friends." she nodded vigorously and they both walked back to Cardin and Dove. When they got near Jaune waved and his two friends came over.

"Hey Jaune who's the kid?" Cardin asked, pointing to the aforementioned kid.

"Ruby is her name." he leaned in and whispered quietly. "An Akuma demon, but she's cool. Found her getting yelled at by Weiss Schnee."

"Hmm, well best to make sure she doesn't do anything. We'll keep an eye on her." Cardin said, they both nodded and Jaune motioned for Ruby to follow.

Their small group continued their way towards the lecture hall where orientation had almost started. They entered through the grandiose doors where, once again, humans and monsters divided themselves. There were a few teachers around to make sure nothing happened, but still, the tension in the room was palpable.

"Hey sis!" came a boisterous voice from their left, turning he saw the golden-haired beauty who told off blueberry from the bullhead.

"Yang!" cheered Ruby, they both met in an affectionate hug for a moment before they released, Ruby pouting. "You left me alone to go be with your stupid friends."

"I know sis, I know. But hey! Looks like you made a few friends right?" Cardin scoffed but Jaune nodded at her, Yang could catch the message and started to lead her sister away.

"Anyways sis check out these guys I met!" Yang disappeared with her sister and Jaune took to chatting up Cardin and Dove about what they wanted to do here. Jaune was entering the Magical Arts classes here at Beacon, it was said to be taught by Professor Goodwitch herself. Dove was learning history and hoped to become a professor in the area while Cardin was learning engineering and architecture.

Soon enough there was a short sliver of mic feedback and a green-robed man swaggered forth to said microphone.

"I'll keep this brief. You have been chosen to attend this academy for one reason: you all fought and bled for you values and people in the Great War. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that, but know now that the war is over and we must set forward in creating a future in which our children will be proud to live in, no matter who or what they are. I know many of you harbor ill wishes and memories, some of you may even have personal vendettas. And while the staff here understand returning to the homefront is never easy, you must take it upon yourself to accept this amazing opportunity put forward to you." he sipped the coffee mug in his hand for a moment.

"With that in mind, while attending Beacon you will be put into a dorm consisting of you and three others. You will live together in this dorm and will be expected to behave as mature adults. If there is any problem at any time, or if you don't feel safe, please, do not hesitate to bring it up with either me or one of the staff here. Your dorm assignments will be posted over in the ballroom."

With that he concluded his speech and walked away, Professor Goodwitch stepped in and began to call people by their last names to go look at the postings. Jaune was among the first people to be called and found he was in room 441 and his roommates would be Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie.

He waited for Cardin and Dove to be done before he went to go see his dorm and dorm mates. When Cardin finally joined him he looked suitably conflicted.

"How'd yours go?" Jaune asked, Cardin scowled and then looked at Dove who sighed.

"Eh, I got Dove in my room but I also got that prissy-ass vampire who was bothering you -Sky Lark- and some other kid name Russel Thrush, a Bennu apparently -Regenerative, heron-like bird-."

"Well atleast you got Dove to keep you company, I got three people I don't know but I am just down the hall from you guys." Jaune looked around for a moment before withdrawing two coin-like objects from his pocket. They looked to be the size and shape of quarters but on one side was an intricate magic rune carved into the metal. "Distress signals, if you guys feel like you're in trouble bite your finger and press it to the rune and I'll go in guns blazing."

"You got it man, and we'll make sure to keep an eye out for you ok?" Dove said, possibly the most he had spoken the entire time. Jaune nodded and Cardin gave him a pat on the back before they dispersed.

0-0-0-0

"439, 440, 441 here it is!" Jaune opened up the room with his brand new key to find his roommates there already. He was surprised to see green-guy -probably Lie Ren- from the ship along with a hyperactive ginger girl in a skirt and vest who was bouncing on the bed. _Hmm, muscle but completely human in appearance. The last name as well as the presence I'm getting... so maybe she is a Valkyrie._

- _Valkyrie, war spirits said to have served the Norse pantheon in times of battle. During the war they stayed neutral and chose not to engage in the fighting. Known for their attitude and superhuman strength the best way to kill them is with a spruce branch covered in human blood to the heart._ -

"Ooh! That must be Jaune!" she shouted, jumping off the bed and putting him into a crushing hug. "It's so so so nice to finally meet you! I'm Nora Valkyrie, a Valkyrie of course, and this is my bestie Lie Ren!"

"Nora, you're crushing him." said Ren calmly, she giggled and let Jaune go who nearly collapsed. As he wheezed his final roommates came up to him, she was a stunning redhead with a body that looked like it could crush steel.

"Pyrrha Nikos, amazoness." she said, _An Amazon? I though they stayed on that island of theirs._

- _Amazons are a race of all-female warriors, similar to Valkyries, who served two of the Greek gods of War and Harmony. Viciously strong and yet honor bound by their rules, they, like for millennia, chose to stay out of the fighting in the last war. They can be killed like normal humans._ -

"Jaune Arc, former hunter and practicing magician." he introduced, Ren popped an eyebrow but said nothing other than a short introduction.

"Lie Ren, I am a Cerastes and I hail from Mistral." Jaune nodded and began to unpack his things while pondering his new roommates. _They're kind, certainly odd folk but little different from humans from what I've seen._

- _A Cerastes is a Greek horned snake, they primarily were sent on desert missions during the war but usually as just scouts and messengers._ -

Jaune took a moment to ponder his new life, by tomorrow he would be learning the intricacies of magic alongside monsters and humans. It would certainly be interesting, but as he though there was a knock at the door.

When Pyrrha went to open it it slammed open revealing Yang and a very frazzled Ruby hanging onto her waist.

"Nice to meet you dorm buddies, it is I, Yang Xiao-Long, kickass dragoness and lover of all things yellow!"

Certainly intersting.

0-0-0-0

 **Thank you guys for your patience when it comes to me getting a new chapter out! If you're wondering about me continuing this then I will be, and if you're wondering why Greece and Norse culture exists on Remnant think of them as old cultures that were assimilated.**

 **Jaune is slightly ooc I know, but then again he served in a war fighting monsters that he now sleeps beside. He's going to act a little different, and, yes, he and Cardin are going to be friends in this fic.**

 **XOXOX**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	12. A Beacon in the Night (2)

**Hello with another chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy this one, because I know I do. Hopefully I can pick up some more writing from now on but please bare with me. By the way, read this story with some noir mix on youtube because that's how I right em. Particularly I was listening to: "** **Jazz Noir | 1 Hour Jazz Noir Saxophone Music | Jazz Noir Music Playlist". So enjoy the chapter you lovely detective lovers!**

 **A Beacon in the Night:**

 **Jaune is called down to Beacon after saving two of Ozpin's students, but he has no idea what the mad headmaster could want with him. Suitably curious and slightly irritable, Jaune plans to go in there demanding answers. And he may just get them.**

0-0-0-0

That damned Ozpin, always stringing people along for one reason or another. Now don't get me wrong, the guy is smart; smarter than your average bear that's for sure. But, the guy runs one of the best academies in Remnant history and you don't do that by being a dull knife if you get what I mean.

Still, I was tired, covered in sweat and blood, and currently in a police car with my new pal: Sun. Needless to say, between my late-night irritability and the heated argument between his girlfriend or whatever, things were pretty awkward not counting the fact we were in the back of a vehicle designed for perps.

"So kid, you go to Beacon?" I asked, the conversation, and mood, had gotten rather dry in the past few minutes so might as well try a different route.

Blondie scratched his nose with a small, sheepish smile. "Well, not exactly. Y'see I'm here for the Vytal Festival thingy right? And I'm actually a student from Haven, all the way in Mistral."

I whistled softly at that, _Mistral huh, I never was one for them fighting tournament things, just an excuse for a bad happening if you ask me._ Still, if this kid was in there he had to have some skill, atleast more than me and, watching him beat down those grunts, I wouldn't underestimate him as far as I could throw him. The car skidded down the road at a speed I had previously thought illegal, _heh, not for cops I guess._

Cops, a real love-hate relationship right there. Half the time cops were getting in my way, when justice needed to be served or someone needed to be saved they'd tell me to back off and let the boys in blue handle it. Yeah right, sit on their ass and tell me to back off to save face was more like it. The precinct downtown didn't like me cause I always stuck my nose where it didn't belong.

Smiling bitterly, I thought about the "love" side to our relationship. Yeah, it wasn't all withered roses with the cops; no, sometimes you really did need the police force for a score too big to settle on your own. They liked to give me the tin-made awards whenever I showed them up, handed the things out like candy back in the day (to little knowledge of the public) in the end it was just there to keep the cops from looking incompetent.

I shook the reminiscing out of my head, I needed to have my questions locked and loaded for this meeting. The car wheeled up to the bullhead docks to take us there, waiting at said docks was Miss Goodwitch, old bag had that glare that could scare the roar out of a beowulf. I just hoped it was for the dumbass kids I had to save back there, seriously, did they not have ankle bracelets for the little munchkins or something?

Sun and I, along with the remaining cavalcade of heroes, Ruby and Blake since Penny took off with some Atlas folk, stepped out of the cars and went to go meet Miss Goodwitch. That look told me everything I needed to know about her thoughts on the situation, I was just glad it wasn't leveled at me.

"I'll have you know that I am spectacularly disappointed with each and every one of you." yeah, she had that "mom glare" going for her alright. The kids, for their part, looked down in shame, save for Blake who just looked like she didn't want to deal with Goodwitch staring at her.

"You are lucky Mister Arc was there to offer support or we would be sending mortuary notes home to your respective families!" I breathed deeply at that, I hated when people put me on the spot. And if you needed an example as to why, when she said that, Blake's head snapped up and swiveled between us, half disgusted and half outraged.

 _3... 2... 1... "_ What are you talking about?! He killed innocent, if misguided, faunus!" Blake shouted, much to the surprise of Goodwitch and her maybe-boyfriend Sun, _Yep, there it is._

"M-Miss Belladonna! I will not have you shout at me or Mister Arc over the deaths of a few terrorists."

"They aren't just terrorists! They were people-"

"People that would have killed you, Ruby, Penny, Sun, and me without a second thought." I said with a growl, this girl needed a reality check and I was about to pay a deposit. "I don't give a good goddamn if you don't agree, your _feelings_ don't matter one iota to me. But the girls and Sun shouldn't die because you lack the ability to make tough decisions, now if I hadn't been there and one of them died how would their respective teams and loved ones react?"

Blake didn't say anything, shock and outrage molding into hot, genuine shame as she looked between her two companions who wouldn't stare at her straight. "Yeah, you see, you didn't think. That's because you're a stupid, naive, hopeless, short-sighted little prat unfit for hunter service."

I had suitably paid my due to the little brat, so I boarded a bullhead without another word and told him to get me to Beacon, I had a meeting with a certain Headmaster...

0-0-0-0

"Ozpin," I drawled slowly, said man sitting at his desk with his fingers interlocked. "You got a reason you called me up here tonight?"

"How about we start with the questions I know you undoubtably have." Ozpin said, _tch the man is as unfazing as ever._

"Fine, first things first: Why on Remnant did you trust me with something like this!" I shouted, Ozpin sighed at looked back at me, still as unwavering as the day I first met him.

"Why wouldn't I Mister Arc? You work outside the boundaries of my usual associates making you an unknown to the Queen and her allies, beyond that your undoubted fortitude and sense of good inherited from your family line made you quite trustworthy to me." Ozpin closed his eyes for a moment and sipped his coffee. "I apologize, would you like some?"

"No. I wouldn't." I growled out through gritted teeth. "Ozpin, do you know what kind of danger you foisted on me? What kind of things could happen to the people I care about?"

"Please Mister Arc, you and I both know you are quite able-bodied. Why, was it not you who was awarded the Vale Police Honor's Medal 4 times in a row for taking down 2 crime families?" Ozpin smirked that shit-eating smirk of his.

I scoffed at the very words. "Please Oz, if _I_ took those two families down you're actually two midgets in a suit."

Ozpin atleast seemed amused at my analogy, well atleast one of us found this shit funny. "But you trying to slither your way out of this aside, why did you trust me with this."

"And my point still stands Mister Arc: your character made me trust you beyond what you may believe, and furthermore, your strength lies not entirely in that revolver of your's but rather up here." he commented, rather entertained at the conversation and tapping a single finger against his temple.

"Alright cut the shit for now Oz, what did you want to talk about." Ozpin's smile faded and he cleared his throat, _Oh boy, me and my big mouth._

"Yes, anyways, we have concrete reason to believe the "queen" is currently infiltrating or has infiltrated this school." I narrowed my eyes at that, how? How does someone who can level down entire kingdoms get into an Academy without detection? Well... I suppose I just answered my own question then didn't I?

"And what does that have to do with me for now?" I asked, completely genuine. I was following Torchwick's trail not some random student out of the lineup.

"Yes, well we also have, although unconfirmed, reason to believe this student will be continually exchanging information between herself and Roman Torchwick." he said, adjusting his glasses. "We believe if you follow up on Roman you may have some clue as to who exactly our infiltrator is. Please, keep your eyes and ears open for the time being."

"That reminds me, Roman was working with the Fang to hijack some dust shipments by the way." gears seem to run inside old Ozpin's head before he responded after a moment.

"How much dust?"

"Well it's hard to say in whole, but this time they were atleast going for 8 or 9 full cargo crates of the stuff. Combine that with the robberies for the past months and the attack on the Schnee train nearly last year... That'd be enough for almost an army..." I trailed off, trying to sort through this with a calculated mind.

"And, once more, what do you think of it?"

"I've seen this before Oz, but on a much smaller scale. However, it all follows a basic pattern: when some gang or syndicate steals cartloads of dust, that means they're planning something big and need the 'oomph' to back it up." I bit my lip, the pieces falling vaguely into place. "with the Fang in tow... Oz, whoever Roman is working for wants him to use this shit to arm what could possibly be an attack army of faunus radicals on Vale!"

Ozpin sipped his coffee, something glinting in his eyes. "Yeah, it all makes sense now. This "Queen", whoever she is, no matter how strong, couldn't do it on her own she'd need bodies, lots and lots of disposable bodies. And who better than idealistic faunus volunteers who have it so ingrained in their heads that they're right that they'd never doubt an order given by high command? By Oum's grace, this- this is something else."

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thoughts before I went down the rabbit hole and never came back out. "Ozpin, I don't know what kind of firepower you're packing or what kind of people you got, but you _need_ to pull everything you can to slow this down or cripple or whatever."

"Thank you Mister Arc, you may return home for now. This... is something that will require me to meet with some people. I trust you will keep this meeting to your absolute disgression." I nodded limply, I know what I needed right now: thick, strong booze; enough to kill a horse and strong enough to melt wood down to the fibers if only to stave off the oncoming coronary I felt like I was about to have.

I turned to shuffle out onto the elevator when he mentioned one last thing. "I will prepare a file on your next lead as it comes to Roman Torchwick, I will provide as much assistance as I can but I am already stretched thin as it is so do understand."

I nodded once more rather limply before entering the elevator and heading straight to _my_ safe haven: The Crow Bar.

0-0-0-0

I slammed what must have been the third or fourth Rob Roy as I enjoyed the rather well-tasting peanuts of my favorite dive. On its better days the Crow Bar was a rather clean looking and respectable establishment, but when you stay open 24 hours a day from Monday-Friday that atmosphere tends to die somewhere around 9:30, and right now it was an early-morning 1:37 AM.

Edgar, the bartender, was the graveyard shift manager and knew me as his most favorite regular. He and I bonded with my frequent visits to the point he would ward off curious folk who saw me here at the earlier hours of the day, or rather later in this sense. He never did ask questions, and best of all, he never cut me off unless he thought I'd end up hurting someone or myself.

When I barged in there with the "Jauney-boy Look", as the inner city folk who knew me dubbed it, he had no qualms about shoveling the liquor into my hands. You see, I was always a Night Owl and liked to do my business in the dark confines of the night. The bright, cracked moon was my morning sun and the stars my smeared clouds in the sky, so if you wanted to catch me you don't mind staying up a little later and sometimes missing the "Midnight Movie hour" on cable television.

Maybe it's because the shadiest of dealings don't really happen in broad daylight, maybe it's because I don't enjoy looking at myself or others in the full glory of the sun, or maybe I just like the relative quiet. I felt my scroll buzz and dreaded opening it after such a long day but did so reluctantly-

 _Hey Jaune, wanted to check how things are going out there in Vale with the Vytal Festival and all. I know work may be going kind of tough right now so if you need us to send you some food just ask- Mom_

I bit back a growl, it's not that I didn't love mom or anything but our relationship was kinda strained with my whole issues with my father. Still, I could see she tried to make up for it anyhow but the Rob Roy was talking for me like a sock puppet with a hand shoved up its ass.

 _It's 1:37 AM, we should both be in bed but I'm drinking to forget today's shit fest at the healthy age of 19. Work is fine, how's everyone else? -Jaune_

 _..._

 _I see, sorry for asking something like that. Everyone is good, Cressida earned an astounding A- on Practical Grimm Combat at Sanctum yesterday! She still says she wants to grow up to be a huntress to carry on your dream and impress you, I think she wants to come visit and try sparring with you. Noire, is well, Noire, and you know how cool she finds you and your job! Your father... whether you believe it or not the fact you drink because of what he said really eats at him, he doesn't have the same passion you know? Not to say we want you to give up what you have, but I think he'd enjoy it if you came back to grab a beer, watch a game, and play some catch. I love you, we love you. -Mom_

 _..._

 _I love you too mom, I'm heading to bed- Jaune_

Whenever mom texted it always killed my appetite for alcohol, maybe because I dreaded to think of the heartache I probably cause her with the drinking and such. Dad... when this is all over and I'm sitting pretty on my mountain of cash and admiration from Ozpin I'll head back home and show the old man I still got the pitcher's arm.

For now though, I needed some sleep so I could whoop that ginger fuck's ass and earn that pile of money and admiration. _Hmm, I wonder if it's too much to ask if Ozpin could kneel down and offer me his personal thanks._

I shuffled back to my dingy apartment, up the three flights of stairs, that did little for my mood, and through the door into home sweet home. I shut, and locked, the door behind me and was able to crack a smile as my longtime companion and co-captain to my personal island -Wyatt Earp- bounded his way over to me from his now empty food dish.

Wyatt Earp was Tauro's golden lab but he pawned him off on me when he left, said he wouldn't feel right if his poor dog picked up on his bad habits while down in Vacuo. The damn thing was his surrogate son current, P.I. notwithstanding, and it was now my duty to take care of him. But, to be fair, the adorable sack of fur and fat did brighten my mood substantially and motivated me to keep the work coming. Ask any dog owner if it's cheap owning one and they'll headbutt you right in your ignorant face, so I filled his food dish for the third our fourth time today and slumped onto my couch.

I flicked the TV on as I settled myself in by stripping down to my skivvies and wrapping myself up. The television was playing a rather, _risque_ , movie and I was about to flip the channels when I gave it a little thought.

"Eh, I think you've earned Jaune my man." I "got prepared" as any teenage boy would tell you when I heard Wyatt Earp whine from the kitchen. "Oh go lay down ya mutt, this is my house not yours so don't get any ideas just because your my first lieutenant."

I'll spare you the rest of that tale but I'm glad to say I went to bed feeling satisfied with my work for the evening...

0-0-0-0

I cracked open my eyes to Wyatt Earp nuzzling my limp hand, _guess that means it's time for breakfast then._ I checked the clock anyhow and was pleased to find it squarely at 8:38 PM, perfect for my time. I hauled up my still rather shaky body and poured my dog some of his favorite food, and then I made my way towards a much needed, and much appreciated, shower for myself.

The hot water was a blessing from the gods as I cleaned myself up, an early morning drinking excursion, a meeting with Ozpin, and a fight down at the docks didn't make me smell like a dozen roses y'see. After drying off it was time for breakfast; the most important meal of the day or so my mother would call it. I poured some Pumpkin Pete's cereal into an old bowl and ate it happily while watching Late Nights with Sevag Martins.

I chuckled to myself as I thought of my more immature younger twins of the family, Mellony and Mindy, who would always complain about having to each "yucky vegetables" and other stuff mom would make from the family garden. _Suck it kids when you're a big, bag, irresponsible adult like me you can have sugar cereal for dinner!_

Finishing my meal I shrugged on a relatively clean ensemble of my usual silver-age detective get-up as my friends liked to call it. And yes, before you make a snarky comment, I _did_ indeed have friends of my own who weren't criminals or other shady individuals.

I hit the pavement as the evening traffic descended and I made my way back to HQ, or my office as others liked to point out, to plan my next move. Oz said he would have something ready for me by the time I got back but that could be-

Aaaaand there it was, sitting, posted, to the door of my office out in the open, was a manila folder like the original case file. _By Oum Ozpin what the fuck are you thinking? If someone had taken even one. single. peak at this shit_ I cursed his name mentally as I opened my office door and entered in with near silence. I opened the folder and skimmed through it looking for all the important bits...

Here it was! Torchwick and his fang buddies were theorized to be operating near Vale, close enough to strike quickly but far enough to be out of reach of normal cops, in an undisclosed location. If I had to hazard a guess, after years of complicated work in the Underworld and an Arc's natural intuition, they'd need somewhere they could stay relatively safe in using conventional arms or means, large enough to hold their forces, secret enough or dangerous enough to keep away any wanderers or hunters, and innocuous enough so that it could be right in front of us.

The Emerald Forest? No, Oz had that placed locked down pretty tight. Forever Fall forest? No, with frequent trips by survey teams, the occasional huntsman, and the loads of field trips done by Beacon they would have been found. Maybe it really was in the city then, but where on Remnant could it be? If their group was sprinkled throughout the city in small pockets information could be leaked rather easily, and worse anonymously, not to mention the countless issues it would raise. For recruitment drives and pandering, yes Vale was essential for getting more young terrorists to join the Fang and the city worked for what could be a somewhat middle ground for the shady leaders of this operation.

I suppose it could be... No! No way in hell would Torchwick be that dumb to go there with his Fang pals. But, on the other hand, if he was _getting_ orders and not _giving_ them he may not have a choice. It certainly fit the criteria well enough: innocuous, dangerous, could be relatively safe for those in large forces with plenty of guns, and wouldn't be hard to set up a temporary base especially with the undoubted power the ringleader(s) would have.

"Mountain Glenn, goddamn this whole case to hell." I muttered bitterly, drawing forth from my desk drawer and smudged glass and some hard-hitting whiskey that'd I no doubt need for this. Mountain Glenn was a wasteland formerly home to a couple thousand civilians before it was overrun by Grimm due to a lack of competence, actual defenses, and untested tactics that ultimately proved disastrous. Now the place was just home to a heap of scattered Grimm and what could be our faunus friends and their, possibly gay, ginger crime boss.

Yeah, with guy-liner like that you know he was chasing- actually, never mind that for now. I needed to focus and get this to Ozpin, I withdrew my scroll and tapped the contact listing his name as the line immediately began to ring.

" _Hello? Mister Arc it is rather late and I-"_

"Shut up and listen to me Ozpin, I think I cracked the code with where our friends are hiding out."

 _"Already? Are you sure?"_

"Absolutely not, but this is the only, admittedly shitty, lead I have."

 _"What did you have in mind?"_

"Oz, I think they're operating in Mountain Glenn."

 _"... That's... Disconcerting news indeed. But I suppose it makes sense if it is a little dangerous for our enemies."_

"I don't think the crime boss and terrorists truly care all that much, but, Oz, Mountain Glenn has tunnels leading right to the damn city. I should know, my dad was forced to clean the area up after it fell."

 _"I... need to talk to Ironwood about this revelation. For now, Jaune, I would like to ask if you might drift over to that side of the city. You need not enter by any means but you may be able to dig up something."_

"Fine, but Ozpin..."

 _"Yes Mister Arc?"_

"Make it 50,000 lien when I get this shit done, along with everything else or I won't-"

 _"-Done, I have another forward payment sent to you for now and you terms will be met when you complete your mission."_

I was surprised at that, even for me that was pretty bold to ask a Headmaster but I suppose it was to show how serious this was. And don't get me wrong, trust me I get how bad this is -I'm the one risking my goddamn neck for pete's sake- but he sure did agree fast. We exchanged goodbyes and I left quickly after that, I needed to hit up the side near Mountain Glenn to get some info.

That's when I felt it, the hairs on the back of my neck standing rigid where they were. The sort of uncomfortable feeling you get when you're alone in a big house on a Saturday night, I was being watched my aura could tell me that. Just who, I didn't have a clue but if I guessed that if I just went down this empty alleyway I'd-

The attack came swiftly from above and, if I didn't know their presence, I'd be dead but I dodged just in time. My assailant skidded past me, deeper into the alley but still close enough to give me a good view of them.

A girl, a faunus girl by the looks of things -the uniform and mask gave it away- she seemed trained somewhat. She was currently wielding what looked to be a staff that had a pair of blades facing opposite directions on the ends, by the swift attack and the weapon I hazard a guess that she was formerly a student of one academy or another.

"Didn't your mother teach you it was rude to attack a man behind his back?" I fake chided, she huffed and bared her teeth like she was a real wolf or some shit. Just another kid with a stupid sense of morality, whatever, she attacked first so she was gonna die.

"Listen to me human, our leader and benefactors wish for you to end this fruitless case." she grit out, but, once more, rather non-threatening to some like me. "You have no idea what on Remnant you have gotten yourself-"

I cut her off by drawing Verdict and firing off some round at her, she blocked them but her guard was broken momentarily. So, in the absence of thinking time, I rushed her with a forward kick and sent her flying into a brick wall.

Aura or not, blunt impacts cause the same internal damage they would normally do. That's why aura doesn't account for knockouts or head trauma, anyways I fired once more not giving her a moment. In a flustered panic she rolled out of the way and tried to fight me, heh, whoever her leader was they thought I was all huff and no puff.

Student or not, arrogance kills people, more so than curiosity, I crossed the gap and kicked her stupid little polearm away from her and cocked the hammer of my gun. She gulped and removed her mask revealing a brunette 17 something kid who looked like she would have done well in one of them academies.

"L-Look, I'm sorry about the whole "trying to kill you thing" but I was just acting under orders."

"And I don't care, you took the chance and lost so tell me: what does your boss know about me."

"F-From what I understand not much other than Ozpin has you working on this case. They've known since the dock incident but I'm not sure what else-" I decided not to waste bullets and fired a single shot into her head. Quick, painless, unexpected, and a mercy on my part.

Still, this was bad. Her employers knew I was on the trial and that only meant bad times ahead, this one would come up missing and they'd put the pieces together meaning this was my one freebie. Sigh, why can't the universe cut me a brake for just a single moment in time?

I could leave her here, but I got the feeling they had enough of my residue to finger me for the crime. White Fang or not, this was gonna slow me down if I let her rot away here. So, pulling out my scroll, I dialed a quick number I had memorized and it picked up after the second ring-

"Melanie, I need your help with a body."

0-0-0-0

 **So what did you guys think? The second installment and the plot escalates! If you're wondering how Jaune put it together so fast, well he's a gruff, gritty guy who knows his work and has a decent head on his shoulder. Combine that with their intel and some things I just didn't mention in the file and *bam we have a location.**

 **Yeah Jaune is kinda ruthless but it's kill or be killed on the grimy, underworld streets of Vale. It ain't all sunshine and roses and the folks who do the dirty work know that lessons well. I hope this kinda reads like one of those old detective comic books because I try to write them that way, so thanks for reading and check back in soon for another entry off of the my favorite horror writer known for his affiliation with the deep blue sea. 5 points for whoever guesses right.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	13. The Shadow over Beacon

**The Shadow over Beacon:**

 **Jaune has finished up his masters in psychology at Vale University and would like to go for a vacation before he throws himself into his doctorate. But not just any vacation, Jaune decides he will visit the elusive and ill-whispered town of Beacon. If only he knew what the people in that town really were.**

0-0-0-0

During the winter of 1948 a mass police raid had been conducted on the seaside town of Beacon, located only about 70 miles away from Vale City. No documentation or reasoning was ever given out by Vale officials and the government residing in Beacon made no comment, but word was soon leaked of some mass conspiracy brewing in the town. According to rumor, almost 100 residents of Beacon were transported out of their town and into some government facility where they were prosecuted on unknown charges. The town, known for its gold mining and fishing, soon lost its luster and transformed into a dank, decrepit place filled with shifty, unkind folk who were talked about in hushed whispers by the citizens of towns surrounding it.

Here I was, Jaune Arc, a fresh 24 year old man with a master's degree in psychology finally under his belt. I had always been interested in the matters of the mind rather than business like my sisters, and, in playing to my strengths, I earned my master's degree with little difficulty save for some laziness on my part.

Now here I was, offered an exceptional opportunity by the University to teach the the psychology course in years to come if only I would earn by Phd in the area of study. I resolutely decided to do so and soon preparations were all but made for me to return once more next year, but before I threw myself into the endless grind of bookwork I wished to have one last adventure while still in the prime of my youth.

Friends and family offered me places to go: Vacuan hot spots for tourists and rare landmarks of a bygone era, Atlas and its imposing cities and technological marvels, even Mistral with its fine culture and beautifully rich history. But, sad to say, I was not built for long flights, motion sickness you see, so I decided to stick to somewhere closer to home, I wanted to visit the shadowy town of Beacon.

When I first mentioned this the room turned quiet, my parents, who had visited me to help make plans, seemed nervous at my announcement as did my eldest sister, Bianca, who had accompanied them on a business trip.

"Jaune," my father carefully started. "That... town... is not a place for a man like you to go. Trust me, I visited there in its heyday and I would sooner die than return there-"

"Nicholas!" my mother chided him.

"I'm sorry Isabella but it's true, that _place_ nowhere near safe enough for him!" he said stubbornly, now my father was an adventurous man, even at his age, and I had never heard him so outrightly turn down a plan to visit somewhere. Unfortunately, his attitude only increased my curiosity of the place and I soon found myself glad I had prepared beforehand.

"Sorry Dad, but I have already arranged transportation and guidance to the town as of two days ago. I just wanted to tell you of my plans." I sighed, Nicholas looked torn between anger and concern but decided to drop it almost entirely.

The rest of their visit went ok, they packed me some things for my dorm and gave me a little money for my trip as well as forcing me to turn on my scroll at all times. At one point, my dad mumbled he wanted to return home to grab something he would be back soon. You see, my parents live maybe 3 hours away from Vale University but they aren't much city folk, they'd rather enjoy the comforts of quiet living.

When my father returned he took me outside, away from mom and Bianca, and had a sit-down talk with me.

"Jaune, I know you have that adventurous spirit inside of you like me, so I know it will be pointless in trying to stop you." he began before sighing heavily and pulling something from his coat pocket. I nearly gasped as he shoved a small pistol, and some kind of amulet in the palm of my hand. I looked back at him like he was crazy, my father was adventurous but he was also a staunch pacifist.

To say that him giving me a pistol rattled my nerves was an understatement. "Dad, what's going on? What's so wrong with Beacon?"

He shook his head, "son, I want you to promise that, if you're truly dead-set on going to Beacon, you will keep your wits about you. And, if at any moment, thing seem to be taking a turn, that you will get out of that town even if you must run out of there. That amulet is something of a symbol of protection, wear it at all times in the town and you should be fine as long as you don't get into big trouble."

I nodded, never in my life had I seen him this serious, even when I broke my leg while hiking. "I promise dad, and don't worry. I'm an adult, and so far I've lived 24 years without dying right?"

He nodded grimly and the rest of their visit passed in a blur, soon enough it was time for me to meet my transportation near the outskirts of the city. I hailed a cab and got their with some time to spare so I pulled out a small book I had checked out of the library on the subject of Beacon.

 _"Beacon was built in 1643 by Atlesian colonists who had sailed around the world trying to find a new trade route to Vacuo. The place nearly failed until the first mayor, Auburn Rose, stepped in and almost singlehandedly raised the colony from destruction. Inexplicably, the town found itself the center of a bustling fishing trade that was assumed to be brought on by a shift in currents along the coast, sending schools of fish into the waters of Beacon."_

The rest was more or less some basic history on the matter, names of the future predecessors, their role in the Vale civil war, and the economic impact the Great Fall of 1910 had on the economy. But, there was a single entry into the book that did catch his eye-

 _"During the winter of 1948 a mass police raid had been conducted on the seaside town of Beacon, located only about 70 miles away from Vale City. No documentation or reasoning was ever given out by Vale officials and the government residing in Beacon made no comment, but word was soon leaked of some mass conspiracy brewing in the town. According to rumor, almost 100 residents of Beacon were transported out of their town and into some government facility where they were prosecuted on unknown charges. The town fell into an economic depression after that although the Vale government never returned to conduct further raids..."_

The government conducting raids? Is that why dad didn't want me to go there? Because it could be some kind of hotspot for illegal activities? Maybe there was-

I jumped at the sound of a horn coming down the cracked pavement. A large, faded blue bus bumbled its way down the street and pulled up alongside the bench reading _Bus Stop_ where I was at. I got up to meet my transportation for the day, apparently this bus was the only public transit to the town and it only provided public transit to the town. The squeaky doors opened with some difficulty and I opted to step inside, thus sealing my fate so to speak.

The bus driver was a rather burly man, broad shoulders and a large head making it look uncomfortable to squeeze into the driver seat. Just by looking at him I could tell he was almost a head taller than me, but what stood out the most was his skin, pale white and looking very sickly. It was the kind of white you hear mentioned in books, where the character becomes so frightened that the color drains out of their skin. True to that, the paleness of his skin nearly reflected the splotches of sunlight that made it into the bus, his skin was only accentuated by his healthy-looking, full head of copper hair. A yin and yang look if you were to ask me.

The driver, Cardin if the name tag was anything to go by, grunted as I lifted some change for him to take. "Beacon" I almost whispered, surprised at the mildness of my own voice, the driver raised a brow but did not say anything else. He shifted the old bus into gear and turned his way back towards the eerie town of Beacon.

0-0-0-0

The ride had gone about what I had expected it to, quiet and sort of unsettling. Cardin did not speak the entire time, nor did he make any sort of sound as the bus bumped and rattled over potholes and outcroppings. If I could say one nice thing, it was that the view of the sparkling ocean was quite beautiful at this time of day and I did have a nice view. The emerald waters glistened with the sun finally out of the clouds, and it helped quell the uneasy feeling in my stomach, still though, I found myself fingering the unloaded pistol tucked away within the inner lining of my jacket more than once, a safety blanket you could say. Dad's amulet was worn around my neck and underneath my grey hoodie, I hoped he was right about it giving good luck.

It took all of two hours to get to the town, and when we arrived I was suitably underwhelmed. The buildings were so worm-eaten and decrepit, I briefly wondered if a few of them would fall down on top of us as we passed by. The shops, if you could call them that, seemed to be in a similar state of disrepair with signs broken and faded, advertising products that they probably did not have.

The _denizens_ of the small town shuffled wordlessly around the place, dressed in thick clothing and sticking to the recesses of the sidewalks and buildings, I could feel their dull eyes follow the bus as we passed by. _Maybe dad was right, maybe this was a bad idea_ I wondered to myself, I did not expect the town to be so... _unforgiving_ to newcomers and it did little to ease my mood.

What really caught my eye was an old wooden construct, seemingly a remodeled church of one of the older religions, that had been painted with this strange symbol. It was hard to describe in any meaningful way, it was purple with what I could only make out as a vertical eye of some sort surrounded by two semi-circles that ended just before they could complete their loop. On the left, right, and upper parts of the two circles there appeared to be spikes of some kind, and every so often the semi-cirlces were bisected by a thin line. On the house there was an old sign reading " _Order_ _of the Trials"_ which I could only assume was part of some cult religion of this place, the symbol, as well as the name, made me instinctively reach for the pistol I had pocketed. Outside the small house was possibly the most lively looking person in the entire town, a woman in a red dress and raven hair, bowing in some sort of prayer beneath the symbol, she too had the pale skin as all the others.

Eventually, the bus came to a halt inside what I could only assume was the town square. Shops littered the sidestreets but what gave me the impression of this being the town square was an equally decrepit and glum-looking town house that had seen better days. He stepped out of the safety of the bus and into the dank, cool air of the town, in this place the sun seemed to hid behind the clouds once more, casting a gross, bleak filter over the place.

I felt a strong hand rest on my shoulder and I, already on edge with this entire town, jumped back in surprise and reached for the, still, unloaded pistol. Cardin, the bust driver, put his hands up in a docile way, I retracted my hand slowly and faced him, a good 5 feet apart.

"Jumpy are we?" his voice, despite being such a large and imposing man, seemed hushed and slightly wistful as he talked. "I just wanted to tell you that your best bet for getting a place to sleep is the Junior House over there."

He jabbed a pale thumb over to another wretched looking establishment, but he was right in the fact that that was the only place to stay for the night. I felt something turn in my stomach at the prospect of staying here overnight, but this is what I had to do, atleast it would make for a good story. I thanked him quietly and tried to ignore how his stare followed my back as I approached the building, _maybe I should load the gun just in case._

I entered the dreadful place, much like the outside it was in need of being torn down and completely rebuilt. Shag carpeting that looked like it had been attacked by an animal, wallpaper that peeled everywhere, and an ugly, yellowish light that cast a sickly filter over the entire place. Manning the front desk was a man larger than even Cardin dressed in a shabby three-piece suit, he had a scraggly beard and short cropped black hair.

"Hello? I would like to have a room for tonight." I muttered to the man, trying to ignore the bigger man's stare.

He grunted in the affirmative and took my crumpled bills and replaced them with a dull, brass key. He tapped an equally dull plaque with a number on it -445- which I assumed was my room for the night. I nodded silently and walked across the lobby towards the double doors leading to the stairs, as I got close I saw a pair of women around my age dressed in a pair of beautiful red and white dresses sitting on a decrepit couch, a stark contrast to their outfits.

The one in red regarded me with the kind of disdain I would imagine a noble had for a commoner, turning her nose up into the air and giving me a better view of that sickly white skin, while the other smiled what I guessed was supposed to be warmly but it was obvious something was behind it.

The feeling made my skin crawl, so I shrank into myself and bounded up the four flights of stairs and into my room. Thankfully, there was no satanic or cultist symbols painted onto the walls; in fact, it looked pretty good compared to the state of the lobby. Still, I felt a cold nausea settle in my stomach, the kind of feeling you get when you're called down to the office in wake of doing something stupid.

Shoving the feeling down I set down my meager belongings and sat awkwardly on surprisingly soft bed. I suppose that a hotel with this little business _would_ need good accommodations to make people stay. I laid back and tried to fall asleep, but it felt like when you're so tired that you're _too_ tired to sleep y'know? Eventually I nodded off for a little bit but was awoken by the sound of soft thumping coming from down the hallway.

I reached for the door handle but, remembering the earlier warnings of my father, I first loaded the small pistol just to be sure. I doubted that I'd ever even need to use it, especially with me leaving tomorrow, but surely it wouldn't be bad to atleast have it loaded right?

After loading my own safety blanket, I cracked open the door enough to see down the hallway to my right and then opened it further to check down the left. I heard the same soft thumping, like someone pacing, and very muffled conversations. Against my better judgement, I crept down the hallway in near silence save for an ominous creak from the old floorboards that simply mixed in with the ambiance of the hotel.

I drew close to the door and leaned in to get a better listen, sure enough, there were multiple voices from behind the door.

 _"So, you gave him the visitor's room?"_ asked a familiar, yet gruff voice. Cardin! What was the bus driver doing here?

 _"Yeah, wouldn't do having him run off because he didn't like the room."_ the voice was gruff to say the least, tougher-sounding than Cardin's, and it only served to intensify the feeling in my stomach sevenfold, and I cast a glance behind me to make sure I wasn't about to get jumped. There was no way in hell that they weren't talking about me, so, in the interest of keeping myself alive, I stealthily slipped the pistol out from the waistband of my pants.

 _"Well that's good atleast, lord knows how long we've been waiting."_ came a high-pitched, almost childlike, voice. I shuddered to imagine what kind of creature masquerading as a human belonged to that voice, but perhaps that was just my imagination running wild.

 _"Like, you should have seen him earlier uncle. He was, like, a total nervous wreck."_ came a rather snobby voice from the other side. Jesus Christ how many people could they fit in the fucking room?

 _"Doesn't matter, he's here and that sets things in motion."_ oh hell to the no, I was not staying in this godforsaken town to be sacrificed to some weird, pagan god for their amusement. That being said, wandering around Beacon late at night with an army of strange cultists didn't appeal to me as much as you might think, so I guess I was stuck here for now.

 _"Well, I'm sure we can get him to warm up to us eventually. We're practically acquainted already!"_ came that energetic voice from before, I could see some pale, childlike figure bouncing up and down as she said it.

 _"Pffft, yeah, if he doesn't talk to Qrow first."_ came Cardin's voice.

Qrow? Who's Qrow, and what does he know that they don't want me to learn? Perhaps, if I needed answers, I could come back again, not alone and heavily armed, to ask this man some questions.

I decided to return to my room but, as I reached for the doorknob, to my horror, the door at the end of the hall began to open. I scurried inside and shut the door softly as the sounds of footsteps echoed down the carpeted hall, slowly and ever so quietly, I locked the door.

The footsteps grew closer, and closer, until they were right outside. I saw the doorknob from my side jiggle softly, me already holding the pistol point-blank at the door, before it stopped and I heard someone mutter.

 _"Looks like the kid likes his privacy."_

I didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night, instead opting to sit on my bed and cradle the pistol and pray to _my_ god for deliverance.

0-0-0-0

I shuffled my way downstairs, backpack still strapped to my body and feet on maximum overdrive to the nearest exit. I entered the lobby to find Mr. Burly-Man and his two friends sitting where I had last seen them. The white-themed chick offered me another smile but it did little to ease my nerves, I nodded curtly and rushed out the door without another word.

To say I was rattled was an understatement, I made a beeline for the bus stop and took brief glances at my surroundings. Same thing as always: decrepit shops, cracked pavements, and a swarm of strange people milling about.

A few turned to gaze at me, most notably a small group of three, a man with a purple highlight and two redheaded women, who offered their own unique smiles.

Soft and subdued from pinky.

Genuine and welcoming from the deep redhead, who was surprisingly gorgeous.

And downright volatile from the ginger-haired girl.

Fuck this place I'm out. I sat in the shadows of the bustop and awaited for Cardin to arrive in my ticket out of this hellhole. I sat there for 10 minutes, then 30, then an hour, and finally an hour and a half before a small girl with red tips on her otherwise black hair came up to me. I moved my hand down to the side of my waist as a precaution, she smiled sweetly and began to ask questions.

"Are you waiting for the bus mister? I'm to have to tell you this but it recently ran into some problems and can't run for today, but it should be fixed in a few days." my blood froze in its veins for two reasons.

One: this _girl_ had the exact same fucking voice as the one from the hotel

And two: I was now stuck in Beacon, alone and without allies and surrounded by people who wanted to do god knows what to me.

May Oum shine his light on me.


	14. The Shadow over Beacon (2)

**I know chapter two of this story is coming out pretty quick but I already had a rough draft for it and, due to the fact I'm leaving** ** _again_** **, sorry I know, I wanted this one out as quick as possible. The next chapter here will probably be a re-write of "A Piece of Me" chapter 2 only this time with a much more angry Jaune. I hope you guys will like that so look forward to it, and without adieu here is your chapter.**

0-0-0-0

 **The Shadow over Beacon:**

 **Trapped in the unorthodox town of Beacon, Jaune stands alone against a horde of strange people. Without a way to get out of town soon enough he must find the one man who might help him: Qrow. But getting to him is easier said then done, especially when the town's folk start to get closer...**

0-0-0-0

 _Goddammit it all_ I muttered silently as my head swiveled around trying to find some way out of this godforsaken place. Much to my dismay, that did not help in the slightest as I now noticed there were no cars, other buses, wagons, horses, not even a fucking bicycle in this hellhole.

The "child" in front of me stared expectantly into my eyes like she was waiting for something.

"So, ugh, you got a name kid?" I asked hesitantly, she pouted in what would have been an adorable way had it not been for the ghostly white skin and memories from last night.

"I'm no kid! I'm 15 and I drink milk!" she said like that solved the case. Whatever, I wasn't going to fucking argue with this freak so I took it as my cue to leave.

"Well, I gotta go so bye!" I said hurriedly before speeding out of her general area before she could ask any questions. The day was overcast, and not even a single ray of sunshine pierced the gloomy atmosphere of this place. My shoes clicked down the broken sidewalk as I avoided eye contact with the strange, huddled folk around me.

 _Whoever this Qrow guy is he might be able to tell me something_ I took a glance at the cold, unwelcome glares from the townsfolk. _Well, no way in hell am I asking them for directions._

Not knowing my way around town I wandered aimlessly until I came upon a street that looked semi-familiar. The same street the bus went down when we first arrived into town! Feeling a small glimmer of hope I walked quickly down more of the broken sidewalk and took notice of my surroundings. The same decrepit houses and shops littered the side streets but, to my utter horror, going down the road would lead me right past the damnable church.

I thought of crossing the street but soon myself equally detested at the idea due to the large number of strange people congregated on the other sidewalk. Steeling my nerves I walked briskly and with a confident step, perhaps if I didn't stop none of those weirdos would talk to me. As I approached the strange building I could see the same women in the red dress standing at the door where she was talking to two others: a cat faunus and a rabbit faunus.

Deciding it was none of my business I continued onward and had made it halfway across the expanse of the sidewalk before those two faunus turned to me with expectant smiles.

Oh shit, now I was in for it. I fingered the gun hidden in my jacket, I would play dumb until they pulled their weird, sacrificial knives then I'd open fire like I was Billy the Kid. Sure enough the two walked over to me, cutting my path off, and acting like we were the best of friends.

"Oh hi there! You must be new in town, so sorry if the way the others were acting put you off." said the rabbit girl, a strange accent to her voice, but I could not give less of a shit. I was out, out, outta here.

"Don't worry, just looking to head out of here." I semi-lied, maybe I'd just risk walking back to town instead of waiting for the bus to be "fixed" (I wasn't _that_ dense).

"Oh my, but didn't you hear? A nasty storm is coming in!" the rabbit girl said with what I assumed to faux worry. "I'm Velvet by the way so nice to meet you. And my friend here is Blake."

"Blake" nodded with a small smile as her ears twitched.

"Oh, right then I must be off!" I said, not giving her an answer to the storm thing. I had just taken the first step before a hand closed in on my arm with a steel grip not unlike that of a mugger or some kind of bodybuilder rapist. I shrieked like the damned and ripped the pistol from the confines of my jacket, the flailing about dislodged my arm, and whirled around to my attacker.

Oh shit, it was the light ginger girl with that freaky fucking smile, only now she looked surprised and kinda worried. Whatever, I'm out; there is no way these freaks are going to surround me here! I took off with the speed of the great god Hermes as I bounded down the sidewalk, not caring to look behind me.

I sped down the sidewalk, almost knocking over more pale figures, as I attempted to run from the cultists that were probably behind me. I turned the corner and hid there for a moment, pistol drawn and head inched around the corner to see how many were coming.

None.

There was no one coming after me wielding satanic knives like I thought. I took a moment to nearly collapse and catch my breath, then, to my additional horror, a guttural roar sounded from all around me.

Damn, I forgot to eat breakfast now that I think about it. I checked the street I was on for anything and, thankfully, there was a small convenience store nearby where I assumed they must have _something_ edible.

I entered the shabby place and looked around for the attendant and found the man with the pink highlight running the counter. Swallowing my displeasure I searched for some breakfast and found it in a few peanut butter cracker packages. As I took another one I noticed the lack of drink in the dingy refrigerators, but perhaps this cult had some weird prohibition thing going on.

I went to pay and pinky gave me a knowing smile. "Wondering why we don't have much drink? Blame Qrow."

Damn, there's that name again. This Qrow fellow could be my only hope, so I attempted to prod him subtly. "Oh? And who's that?"

"The town drunk as everyone calls him, doesn't really do much for the community. He usually just sleeps in the old park and drinks whenever he can, never did know how he scrounged up the money."

The old park! A perfect place to find my ally! I paid, thanked him, and was about to leave when the ginger girl with the rapist-like grip bounded into the small convenience store.

"Reen! I need help finding-" she stopped when she looked at me, and, in defense, I reached for the gun.

Noticing our reactions "Ren" sighed and looked at her. "Nora, what did you do to him?"

"Nora" looked sheepish as she prodded her index fingers together. "Well, I sorta kinda grabbed him from behind when he wasn't expecting it."

Ren groaned and facepalmed at her answer as she tried to defend herself. "Well I thought it was going to be a big joke and he'd laugh but instead he freaked out and ran away!"

She pouted and Ren looked at me apologetically. "Sorry about her, she doesn't have much common sense so if she scared you she didn't mean it."

I swallowed dryly and nodded, and then quickly vacated the premises much to the disappointment of Nora and the resigned sighing of Ren.

0-0-0-0

Jesus H Christ what was wrong with the people in this town? Oh what am I saying, that's the wrong question to ask right now. I took a moment to clear my head as I ducked into a small alleyway, it took a moment but I calmed down enough to think about last night and today.

From what I could tell there immediate mission was not "Kill the heretic outsider" and was instead more like "convert the heretic outsider" which didn't exactly put my mind at ease either. They seem to be tolerating my presence, for now, but I feel that there is more to this story than just a bunch of country bumpkins trying to bring me into their cult of weird.

I took off stealthily towards the direction, I assumed, of the park given some faded town maps that showed a graphic of a large green area that lacked buildings in it. Avoiding the stares and attempts at more weird conversation I arrived at the park itself, a far cry from the town it looked to be the one place that actually had some _life_ in it. Nice greenery and healthy trees invited me into a pretty well-trimmed grass ground that had a myriad of benches for people to sit on.

Still, I moved quickly in trying to find my drunken ally but, although I had just stepped into the lush park, I only saw more strange folk. The one who stood out was a colossal beast of a man standing over seven feet and coursing with thick muscle, I mean holy shit was this guy big! The dude looked like he could fold cars like cardboard boxes! He was asian of some kind, judging by his features, and wore some sort of green karate outfit, you know the ones with the belt and the white robes? Like that, but in green.

He was... meditating or praying or something so I though I could just slip past him without him really noticing. But, goddammit it all, just as I was about to make it past him he apparently woke up and called out to me in a surprisingly soft voice.

"You must be the new man in town! Come! Come! I would like to speak with you for a moment." now, I was never one to just go over to someone just because they ask but, at the same time, I really didn't want to anger this guy by offending his culture or some shit.

I walked over, but remained standing, and waited for him to talk. He looked at me and smiled, petting a small pigeon in his hand. "I heard around town that you're quite the runner!" he chuckled, but I found it less funny.

"Y-Yeah, just gotta take care of something before I leave."

He looked surprised at that. "With that storm coming? Young man, I'd hate to imagine what could happen to you!"

"I'll take my chances." I blurted out before I could stop myself, damn it now this guy was gonna go all psycho on my ass.

But he didn't, instead he just chuckled to himself while shaking his head. "Sir, if this is about our... disposition towards newcomers then I would like to apologize on their behalf. Mayor Rose always says we need to be more welcoming to newcomers or our town will never improve. That being said, those who take this lesson to heart have more than a fair bit of trouble trying to connect with those from outside the town."

Yeah, no shit. Weird cult meetings in hotel rooms, surrounding me with their weird pale skin, and grabbing my arm like you're about to tear it off doesn't strike me as something normal people do.

"Again, I'd like to apologize to those who have scared you. I promise we are not as unwelcoming as we seem!" he smiled a pretty genuine smile but it wouldn't work on me. I wasn't about to let this weird, golly-green-giant looking-ass cult recruiter sway me with a few kind words.

"Well so sad I gotta y'know seeya!" I rushed out before leaving the scene in a light jog, continuing my search for this Qrow fellow. 10 minutes later I believed I had found him, sitting alone on a park bench was a scruffy man in a shabby suit without a coat hunched over with a bottle in his hand. Strangely he lacked the "Beacon Look" as I dubbed it, no pale skin to be seen. So, I sat down next to him and tapped him lightly, he roused himself and blearily looked at me like he wasn't sure if I was real.

"Who're you kidsh?" he asked drunkenly.

"My name is Jaune Arc, I came here for some stupid adventure but now I'm fucking stuck in this shithole town." I said in a harsh whisper. "People are saying you might know something so please! I just want to get out of here."

He blinked once. Twice. "Arc? Ash in _those_ Arcs? Your dadsh wash an adventurer?"

"Yes that's him! Did you know him?"

He chuckled to himself. "Yeah, I knew him. Look kidsh, if you want to find out what is going on just take a quick listen-"

He sobered up almost immediately, in fact, it was so fast I questioned if he was drunk in the first place.

"A long time ago this place was a ghost town, even more so than now. It stayed that way until this guy, Auburn Rose, shows up in town and magically becomes mayor. Just then, all this shit is getting fixed left and right. Auburn, the goddamned maniac, claims it was through the power of this weird religion he picked up from overseas, he was a sailor you see. Of course, people being people, flock to that shit because it saved and then bam! We got our very own cult, so anyways this gets passed down year after year after year. The folks in this town get pretty fucking weird in this time, that pale skin you see is some genetic shit they got going on here. I don't know the specifics but trust me, that ain't normal. Ever since then we got good enough business, the damned Rose family keeps themselves in power with those arrogant Schnee pricks acting as every other important person in town, meanwhile the regular joes are going fucking bananas over this weird religion in town. Kid, I'll tell you what, this place is all kinds of wrong, but I can't leave. They don't want me to you ya see, they made it pretty clear last time I tried to leave what would happen if I did. So listen to me kid, storm or no storm, you gotta get the fuck outta here right now!"

At the end of his spiel I was packed up and ready to bolt. I took his advice to heart and resolutely decided to book it out of here, I thanked him sincerely and made my way to the street I can in on. There it was, at the end of the street, the gates out of here.

They were locked.

Damn, did they know I talked to Qrow?

Whatever, I wasn't sticking around to find out and I had hopped a few fences in my time so screw it. I ran to the gate and began to shimmy up the black metal and over. I had hooked one of my legs over the edge of the gate when I saw it, a couple of townsfolk bolting down the street right at me.

One was the deep redhead with green eyes I had seen hanging around Nora and Ren, another was some kid with a green mohawk, and the last one was that cat faunus and they obviously were coming for me. I jumped the rest of the fence and made down the bumpy and cracked road on foot casting glances behind my shoulder. I had gotten over in time so that they would need to stop and either unlock the gate or try to climb over it like I did, either way it gave me a head start and I took it wholeheartedly.

I raced down the street with the winged feet of Hermes on me, gun firmly in hand, and I wasn't stopping for anything. I threw another glance over my shoulder and, to my terror, found mohawk kid and cat faunus had easily climbed over the gate and were racing at me, still I was faster and had a head start as well.

I flicked the safety off the gun but continued my route, the street had not changed since I came in yesterday it was still cracked and weathered but the actual weather was a different story. Much to my surprise, I found that there was indeed a storm brewing off in the distance, the grey clouds turning bruise black, but I could make it back to Vale with time to spare. I looked behind me and found mohawk kid still pursuing me with vigor in his step, so yeah, I was not having that shit.

I fired once, blindly in his direction, and that cut his chase short. He stopped, ducked, skid across the ground, and bolted back to the safety of that wretched town. Good. I didn't give a shit if I hit him or not but that let him know just who the fuck he was chasing.

With a smug laugh I continued bounding down the winding street, a sloped cliff to my left and the open sea to my right. If I took a quick break from running, but continued walking and watched for more townsfolk, I could make it back to Vale in time for supper! Perhaps I should call my dad too, so, in the interest of hearing my dad's voice just in case I didn't come back, I pulled out my scroll and phoned him.

I didn't have nearly as much service as I would like but the call still went through.

" _Jaune? What's going? Are you ok?"_

"Not at all dad, you were right! These people are fucking crazy and they were chasing after me!"

 _"Jesus Christ, you still have the amulet and gun don't you?"_

"Yeah, of course. But I ran out of the town and a few of them tried to follow me."

 _"Where are you now Jaune?"_

"I'm outside the town and I shot at one of the guys chasing me."

 _"Jesus Chri- Ok, your mother and I are going to come pick you up just keep running along the road 'til you find us."_

"O-Ok Dad, I'm on my way."

He hung up and I decided to keep running after I had that opportunity to catch my breath.

0-0-0-0

I had spent hours walking and walking and running and occasionally just sitting there and catching my breath but something wasn't right. It was nearly 7 in the PM and I hadn't seen anything near Vale. The storm clouds grew closer, I could see them very much so and heard their raucous thunder overhead, so I tried to do something crazy. I had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on but I just couldn't prove it. So, I went to one of the road speed signs and tied my black hoodie around it. At worse I'd lose a hoodie, and at "best" I confirm my truth.

After that I kept walking and walking and walking until _bam!_

Same road speed sign, and my coat still firmly tied around it. What the fuck was going on in this town? I know I didn't take a wrong turn, you needed to _have_ turns to do that! The feeling of helplessness, running and walking for hours, and the dumb confusion caused me to violently vomit up whatever was left in my stomach. I sat there, choking and crying like a child as I just tried to think on what to do.

Maybe that crazy, "hoodoo you voodoo" religion had some merit. I mean, obviously _this_ isn't supposed to happen right? And then a though hit me, so vile and chilling I almost wretched right there: what about mom and dad?

Could they get caught in this shit too? And what of the storm? Did the cultists conjure that shit up now too? Are they wizards? Is that what's going on? That we're being attacked by wizards? Fuck it, as much as I hated to say it, I needed to get back to the town. I ran the other way in hopes of this spell or whatever reversing itself and, sure enough, I was in sight of the front gates in no time. Thunder rumbled ominously overhead and I bit back more displeasure as I tried to make out what was happening at the gates, because there was _something_ going on.

A couple of people were huddled around a... car... my parent's car... my parents. I roared a defiant rebel yell as the thunder accented it with its own roar and I charged, gun in hand and ready to shoot like I was stuck in the Alamo. As I got closer I saw the figure at my dad's side point into the town and they drove in, the bastards probably told them I came back to town!

I slowed my run and ducked next to some rocks as the figures entered back inside, leaving the gate wide open. So be it, if they wanted to play hardball well then I'm game for it too. The first few drops of ran began to pour down upon me, I knew that once the rain started to let loose I could get in there undetected for the most part. So I'd wait, and bide my time before I'd just jump one of the fucking townsfolk and make them talk to me. I made sure my gun was loaded, the safety was off, and I was ready for the inevitability of having to kill someone.

Perhaps I would go talk to Qrow again, he didn't seem to like this town so perhaps I could convince him to lend me a hand in exchange for his freedom. Add on mom and dad who are badasses in their own right and we've got a fighting force fit to fuck up this shitty little town. I watched silently as more figures crossed near the gates, none of which I recognized, as I continued to bide my time. The rain slowly got heavier until it was noticeable enough to head inside for anyone else, but I knew this storm was about to release a downpour the likes Noah would have balked at. Sure enough, timed at the crack of thunder and a spear of lightning in the distance, the downpour became a reality. So thick you couldn't see 20 feet away and anything closer would have been a muddled blob if they weren't right up on you, a perfect time to strike. I crept into the town without issue and stayed close to the alleys and secluded areas I could find, I scoped out for what I was looking for and found it as I grew nearer. Yes, a local yokel with silvery-blue hair and pretty boy features. He wouldn't put up a fight at all, so I decided to creep a little bit closer with a fire in my eyes that warmed me from the ice cold rain.

I'm going to burn down this town if need be...


	15. A Piece of Me (2) (Re-write)

**A Piece of Me (Re-write):**

 **Jaune wakes up after what the good doctor has put him through, but he's less than willing to settle into his new skin. Now his team and Team RWBY must deal with the fallout, and find Dr. Grossman before this happens again.**

0-0-0-0

I could only imagine how I looked, screeching like a banshee before falling silent but I was too far gone to care. My scarred hands shook as my new eyes roamed over them in utter shell shock. I could only vaguely see, out of the corner of my eye, my teammates trying to get my attention again; however it is was in vain, as I was currently preoccupied tracing the thin, white lines that made up the scar tissue along my hands and arms.

It was a morbid sight to behold, my arms, hands, hell I'm sure the rest of my body was covered in these white lines that must have been from the countless incisions that psychopath did to me. The tremor in my hands magnified as my mouth opened in what would have been another scream if I had any energy left, I buried my face in my scarred hands and tried to take solace in the darkness, but I could feel the small grooves from the cuts all along my hands.

Sounds mixed until they became a horrid drone that pierced my head making me want to scream again, my breathing was erratic and hitched and I tried to bury my fingers into my head to anchor myself to some kind of sensation.

"J...Jaun-...!"

I hadn't even seen the most of it, what of my face, my body, my legs, and, oh dear god, my manhood? I was beginning to shut down, my brain, overencumbered by my new senses, couldn't handle it and it was going dark again.

"Jau-...-ook a..t...!"

This is it, I can't go on. Maybe I should just-

"Jaune! Look at me!" shouted a familiar voice, a pair of familiar hands gripping my own. I looked up blearily, confused and dazed as the day I was born, to see my old friend and brother-from-another-mother Lie Ren. His jaw was set and his gaze was steady, he was speaking words to me but it took a moment to catch up.

"Jaune, you're ok. We're here Jaune, just breath easy." I did as the green-clothed man said, I slowed my still hitching breaths into some modicum of calm before he breathed deeply and addressed me again. "Ok, good. You're doing good Jaune."

Suddenly, a feeling hit me and I felt something bubble up from my stomach. I threw his hands off and raced to the only other door in the room, thankfully I guessed right and it was the bathroom. I vomited everything I had in me, and then some I didn't know I had in me, but it wasn't enough. I could hear my team shuffle outside the door, worry evident in their voices but, like before, it began to get drowned out by the buzzing in my head.

Eventually, my nausea passes and I stand up on shaky legs; I reach out to the sink for support and I use it for leverage as I wobble over to the basin. I turn on the cool water and immediately go to washing the watery vomit of my chin and splashing the cool liquid against my face to try to rack my brain. Tentatively, I look up into the large mirror hovering above the sink to truly witness my new body.

I takes all my will not to run back to the toilet. I swallow hard and force myself to look, just as I saw before, my face was reduced to a mass of silvery scars that spanned the width of my face. My eyes especially had some work done on them -if that venomous green was anything to go by- as I saw a small mass of scars form a jagged starburst of lines out of each one of my eye sockets. More scars dotted the area around my chin, on my cheek, and even some on my forehead with the largest beginning past my hairline and reaching down to my left temple.

Hesitantly, I took off the hospital gown and tried to view my chest without retching once more, scars. Scars everywhere! That same silver-whitish color, but some of them spanning the length of my arm! I noticed a few things that stood out first, a mass of the damn things was accumulated near my heart, down the flanks of my abdomen, and straight down the middle of my chest. I traced an equally scarred hand along them, if they weren't so visible then I wouldn't even notice them, none of them looked messy or incomplete. No, these were the work of a skilled surgeon and top-of-the-line machines designed for work like this. No part of me was spared being cut up: shoulders, biceps, pectorals, and another congregation of clean slices marring my triceps and down the length of my arms giving them the look of a Halloween costume's makeup. I noticed something equally strange there too, more long scars spanning down the underside of my arms, right through the middle of them with additional horizontal scars along my wrists. I twisted my body with surprising ease despite the traumatic surgery I had undergone, but I began to notice some things out of place.

Every movement of my arms, the twisting of my body, or just the refocusing of my eyes brought this soft mechanical hum. Just like before, almost unnoticeable had it not been for the deafening silence in the small bathroom. My breathing picked up again as my brain soon went to work analyzing my whole body, and what it found nearly sent me into a tailspin.

Everything wasn't right.

They were small things, but the longer I looked for them the more pronounced they became. I began to feel something different, and I did mean feel in the literal sense because it felt like my nerves were on adderall. Every breath of the air conditioner, the slight movement of my feet against the tile, even the gentle touches of my own body hair were picked up by my nerves. I ran a hand along my chest and focused, sure enough, I could feel every groove and slight pattern in the palm of my hand and the design of my fingerprints. I could track it all so clearly that it began to feel second nature, when the current of air changed I could feel the subtle tug of it across my bare skin, and when I leaned in to the mirror things got worse.

There were changes in my body structure as well, I could _see_ them in stunning resolution. In fact, I could see just about everything: the grooves on my skin, the patterns within the scar tissue, I could even faintly see the outlines of veins if I tilted my head slightly. The longer I looked the more that I saw was wrong, but was that actually true or was I just imagining things? Did my ears look slightly displaced or was that just a trick of my mind? Was my hair always this dark of a blonde, no it must have been lighter right? I began to hyperventilate again as I heard the door to my hospital room swing slightly open and the familiar _click clack_ of dress shoes on cold tile.

"Mr. Arc-" I heard a sagely voice ask outside my door.

"Yes!" I responded too quickly and narrowly cutting off the man outside my door.

The man cleared his throat and began to speak, "this Professor Ozpin Mr. Arc, General Ironwood and I would like to speak with you for a short period before we can clear you for departure from Beacon Hospital."

I licked my dried out lips, "o-of course Headmaster, right away! Just, please, can someone hand me some clothing... And some gauze?"

0-0-0-0

My hands laid shaking in my lap, wrapped in gauze to prevent me from seeing them in all their horrific glory. Headmaster Ozpin sat across from me, mug nowhere to be seen and fully serious.

"Now, Mister Arc, I don't want to push you after such a traumatic experience, but can you recall what happened." Headmaster Ozpin asked slowly, obviously not wanting to push me too far.

I licked my dry lips, what did happen before then? I was in the surgery room with the doctor, but why? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: I had been thrown out. Yes, I was branded a pervert and a creeper by my own friends without any evidence and sent, in the dark of the night, into a massive city without my weapon. Realization soon became uninhibited anger, and it showed on my face if Ozpin's reaction was anything to go by.

"Miss Nikos, take your teammates and wait outside for a moment." the headmaster said in a voice that obviously didn't make it a request. Pyrrha looked between me and Ozpin before gathering Ren and Nora and walking out the door. Once the door had clicked shut Ozpin returned his attention to me.

"So?"

"My team threw me out of the dorm because someone was messing with Team RWBY's stuff." my fist clenched tightly, a mechanical whine following it. "They blamed me without any reason and now I'm here. That do it?"

"Quite." Ozpin hummed for a moment before continuing. "Furthermore, after thorough examination, it was revealed that Dr. Grossman did not put anything potentially dangerous into your body so you've been cleared to leave. General Ironwood would feel it best if you met with an associate of his who has... experience in matters such as these."

I nodded, caught between a bone-aching weariness and a red-hot anger from hell itself, and Ozpin left. I heard him murmur some things to what I assumed to be my team outside before his shoes clicked away on the tile.

Slowly, the door opened and my teammates entered. Ren looking the most cautious of the three and Pyrrha caught between worry and hesitation, we stayed like that for awhile, just sitting there staring eachother down. Finally, Ren had the nerve to cut the silence.

"Ozpin told us that you may be upset at us over what we had done. And you have every right to be but-"

"Upset?" I asked, my voice surprising gentle. I cocked my head and that humming buzzed from myself. "No, try pissed Lie."

Ren winced a little, clearly uncomfortable at me using his first name. Pyrrha looked ready to speak but I cut her off.

"I should kill you, you know." the tension increased to the point where you could cut it with a knife. Even the fluorescent lights seemed to stop their endless buzzing from overhead, and Pyrrha, clearly caught off guard, had no idea what to say. "It's your fault I'm like this. And for that, I should kill you."

"Jaune!" Ren cut in, moving closer to me. "That's out of line you need to-"

"What? What are you going to do _Lie_." I said, moving closer to him. Even though he was only slightly smaller than me, I might as well had been a giant with the amount of pressure I exerted on him. Ren, for the first time since I had met him, paled slightly and took a step back, I could see every rippling muscle as he did so and it made me all the more conscious of my new body.

But before anyone could the door opened, and in walked in the people I did not need to see: Team RWBY. Ruby and her team shuffled in, obviously perplexed by the situation they walked in on. I leveled a cold stare at that retched team, Ruby visibility flinched and even Blake looked uncomfortable.

I snorted. "And there they are! Team fucking RWBY!"

Ruby gasped and tried to stammer out a reply. "J-Jaune? What's going on?"

"What's going on is the fact my team and I were having a little heart-to-heart when you walked in. But it's ok, because I needed to talk to you anyway."

Yang finally piped up, looking caught between distress and anger. "Jaune, why are you being such a dick?"

"Oh shut the fuck up Yang." I moaned like I had been dealing with an impudent child, and I might as well have been. "I am so sick of your temperamental mood swings and your inability to deal with anything without fucking punching it."

"Vomit-boy, you better watch your next words." Yang growled out.

"Case and point! You threw me out of the fucking dorm without any reason and _you're_ the reason I'm in this fucking walking hell now!"

Ruby tried to get between them before things got violent. "Come on guys, Jaune, Yang, we're friend right? We need to work this out."

"Maybe a week ago you were my friend, but a good friend doesn't throw another out like yesterday's garbage." I breathed deeply and let it out in a sigh. "Why Ozpin ever let you be a leader."

She gave and small whimper and Yang pounced at me. She howled as she brought a fist back to crush my nose, but, while that would've worked days ago, I was a new man so to speak. I caught her fist easily and stopped it similarly, I almost laughed at her expression; dumb bitch was so confused she froze up for a moment and I took that time to let out all my most deep, boiling frustrations on the blond.

A single punch at max power broke right through her aura and shattered her nose. She screamed and fell back and the rest of her team sprang into action, Weiss created a glyph beneath me that would have froze me to the floor had I not jumped out of the way.

Ruby screamed and froze while Pyrrha and Ren tried to tend to Yang who was bleeding heavily.

Good.

Blake ran at me and I punched again, her movements, once almost unseeable to my eyes, were displayed in crystal clear vision. The punch caught her near her hip but her shadow clone took the brunt of it, but she still slid back a few inches.

They stopped their assault when Ruby called out to them but the situation was tense.

"I never thought you would go berserk Arc." Weiss spat, I bit down the urge to crush her for saying that but decided to finish up my lecture.

"Weiss, ever the perfect student. I'm sorry Weiss but whatever issues you have with your family aren't going to be solved by being a good little huntress." I sneered at her, a motion once foreign to my old personality. "You don't deserve to be a huntress, you should just go back home."

She flinched at I did a mental cheer that I had hit my mark, my eyes roamed to Blake who froze when they landed on her. "And you, always with that fucking whining about the White Fang. Will you shut up about it? It's bad enough you almost got Ruby killed at the docks, but even now all you do is piss and moan about how the faunus fucking deserve better, and how the White Fang doesn't represent them. No one fucking cares Blake."

She narrowed her slitted eyes at me but didn't move. My gaze flashed across the room, Ren looked serious, more serious than I had ever seen him, and Pyrrha and Nora looked rather fearful. So what, I didn't need them anymore.

I sneered again at a sudden thought and dived out the window, somehow I knew the fall wouldn't concern me. Sure enough, I landed with graceful elegance and took off away from the hospital. I headed straight towards Vale at breakneck speed, there was someone I needed to find...

0-0-0-0

 **There you go, a re-write of the original chapter. I know some parts were put in there but please bare in mind this wasn't a total re-write. Anyways I hoped you liked and next addition will be to "Needle in a Haystack". So stay tuned.**


	16. Jaune Arc Wants to Live a Quiet Life

**Ok, here with a new chapter. To be honest, if you guys want a story idea post it in a review because I would love some ideas from you guys. Other than that I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

 **Jaune Arc Wants to Live a Quiet Life:**

 **Jaune Arc is a fairly average man. He gets to bed at 11 PM every night, has no physical ailments, goes to work everyday, and enjoys the relative quietness of his life. But, when his quiet life is destroyed by a certain gang of teenagers, Jaune discovers a new ability of his. Using it, he will create the quiet life he wanted, one way or the other.**

0-0-0-0

Jaune Arc sat on the beautiful hillsides of Beacon Park, enjoying his sandwich with the love of his life. The sun was beginning to dip below into the horizon, white, fluffy clouds lazily drifting by. Jaune sighed happily as he leaned back and took another bite of his sandwich, his beloved with him in hand, their emotions connected through one another.

"Ah! What a beautiful Duwang!" he sighed happily, enjoying the cool breeze. "Today is a lovely day isn't my love?"

He looked down to what was in his hand: a small picture of what appeared to be a 20 something women looking straight at the camera, confused but still clearly nervous. He held it lightly in the palm of his hand, smiling down at the women with a warm look.

"Do you remember when we first met my love? Meadow Green Train Station, you were wearing that lovely pearl necklace of yours." He chuckled softly. "When we met, you told me it was your mother's and that it was nearly priceless due to its age."

He took another bite of his sandwich, the image of the woman cradling the bottom part of the bread so that they ate it together. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a black hoodie and another tan jacket on top of that. Here he was, young, in a committed relationship, living a peaceful life, and only 19. Sometimes life truly was fair to those that deserved it.

He finished his sandwich and tucked the photo of his beloved into the tan coat's inner pocket. _My beloved, I fear that our time together is coming to a close now. The search will soon begin for someone as beautiful as you, and that means that we must part ways._ He thought sadly to himself, breakups were hard on everybody it seemed. _No matter I suppose, maybe I'll find a beautiful girl on vacation this time. The festival is beginning in a month or so._

Jaune decided to take a walk around Vale's Beacon district (closest to the actual Academy) and peruse the shops to spend what little time he had left with his beloved. He snickered softly as he also wanted to perhaps scout out a new girl to date, not that he'd ever tell his beloved such a thing.

As he was walking he heard some kind of commotion going down near the bullhead docks. He wished to ignore whatever it was but his curiosity, always an Arc curse, got the better of him. When he reached the source of the noise he found himself in the presence of what must have been students by the looks of things. One was a rather gangly young man with a green mohawk and dressed in some kind of neo-punk outfit while the other appeared to be a young woman dressed in a brown sweater, beret, and a pair of sunglasses.

The two were obviously squaring off until the man in green decided to break it off before things could devolve into a real fight. Jaune made to keep his distance from the two so as to avoid putting his beloved in a potentially harmful situation.

The young man stormed off towards his way and Jaune decided it was time for him to leave as well, he did not want anything to do with this man nor his sour mood. Jaune continued to walk along his path but, as the cruel hand of fate would have it, the young man, who was obviously angered and bitter, ran right into him nearly knocking Jaune over.

Jaune stumbled but regained his balance with some semblance of grace, however the young man had been knocked nearly flat on his ass. The boy got up in a rage and clearly wanted to vent his problems onto Jaune.

"Hey asshole!" he shouted. "Who do you think you are, running into me like that? Do you know who I am? I am a huntsman of Beacon Academy you idiot, I protect worthless losers like yourself!"

"You ran into me young man." Jaune replied politely, face a neutral mask.

The young man did not find it pacifying and renewed his assault. "So, you think you can knock me over and then blame me for it?! Well fuckstick you got another thing coming then! I'll-"

He paused when he noticed something on the ground, his eyes drawn to it. Jaune followed the man's gaze and found himself staring, in horror, to the photo of his beloved. Laid flat on the dirty street no less!

The man in green picked up his beloved and Jaune bit down a white hot flash of anger. The stupid kid eyed it like he wasn't sure what it was before his metaphorical lightbulb went off.

"This fell out of your pocket? Why do you have a picture of some woman in your pocket? And why does she look so nervous?" he asked in confusion, suspicion arousing inside him. When he turned back to the man who he had run into he found someone entirely new, gone was the blank look and in its place were a pair of eyes that offered no mercy.

"Y-You- What the hell is going on?! Who are you?!" he shouted, thankful that the street was empty so no one needed to hear him.

"Who am I? I am Jaune Arc, I am 19 years old, I work for the Schnee Department Store as a clerical worker, I am unmarried, I have 7 sisters, and I make sure I am in bed by 11 PM every night." he responded in a monotone voice, the boy's mind whirled in confusion over what was happening. Was this guy some kind of weird serial rapist? Why didn't he come down here with his team? This was all Coco's fault.

"Y-You- I-I don't." he stuttered, clearly confused, until suddenly the man leapt the gap between them and landed nearly a couple inches away from him. Now, the young man -Russel was his name- had attended the Beacon curriculum for over a year now and that meant he knew how to fight. But, sometimes, there are situations where a person's mind is so confused that they momentarily forget their fight-or-flight reflexes.

Jaune reached out for the man and brushed his hand along his vest. Snapping out of it, Russel leapt back with a growl and lowered himself into a fighting stance.

"Alright blondie, you asked for it." he seethed, breathing heavily. "Prepare to get your ass kicked by a Beacon student!"

He made to move forward but stopped when he heard Jaune's words. "So you're a Beacon student then huh? So you must have a semblance of your own, well I'll let you in on a little secret kid: I have one too."

Russel froze, clearly nervous now. "And because you have seen my beloved, I can't honestly let you leave here to spread my identity. Luckily my semblance leaves no trace."

Russel roared and charged, perhaps if he could just kill the guy using some martial arts he'd be ok. As he neared the weird man Russel saw him close his left hand into a fist and raise his thumb over the enclosed index finger. And then, when Russel was no more than a foot or two away, he pressed his thumb down like he was using a detonator and it happened.

 _CLICK!_

Russel suddenly felt hot, extremely hot in fact. His skin, muscles, and tissue swelled and bubbled like there was something threatening to break free from his very body. Russel tried to scream out for help but it was too late, the explosion came and with it a boom only he could hear. The orange flames that burst from his body swirled into nothingness along with every scrap of Russel Thrush.

Jaune stood for a moment, checked the time, saw it was nearly 8 PM, and decided to make it home in time for some shows and finally stretches.

Jaune Arc, 19 years old, a department store worker by trade, wants to live a quiet life, in possession of the semblance known as "Killer Queen" that allows the user to turn anything they touch into a bomb walked back home, unknowing of how his act will ultimately come to end his life.

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 **4 days later...**

The whole school was in an uproar, Russel Thrush, member of Team CRDL and now second year, has been missing for four days straight. He left no note or any whereabouts of where he was going making those in charge suspect foul play. Unfortunately, the only person seen having a disagreement with the missing person at the time was one Coco Adel.

They had her locked away for now down in the Vale Precinct as a case was built. Team CRDL, or rather what was left, was distraught at the sudden lost of their teammate and had been falling apart in combat classes and in general studies. Ruby Rose, 16 and leader of Team RWBY, sat at her usual lunch table with her team and their sister team LVN (Lavender) which consisted of Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie.

There had been an uneven amount of candidates at the start of their freshman year so things ended up a little strange, but Team LVN had powered through it and overcome each obstacle. Still, Ruby picked at her food as she wasn't hungry, in fact, she hadn't been hungry since the case got out and Coco had been imprisoned, her partner, Weiss Schnee, noticed this and sighed.

"Ruby, I get you're upset but you need to eat." she said gently, ever since coming to Beacon the girl had gotten somewhat rid of her frosty attitude.

"Yeah I know, but I'm not that hungry." Ruby replied back quietly.

"I know Ruby, Russel was an ass but he didn't deserve whatever happened to him." Yang, her sister, said softly. Russel Thrush was a racist and a bully, and there were surely many who would welcome his disappearance but Yang knew Ruby wasn't like that. Not only that, but Coco and her team -CFVY- were like the secondary sister team besides LVN and hearing that Coco was accused of murder cut deep.

"Speaking of which." Pyrrha Nikos cut in. "Does anyone find it a little odd how Coco would go so far as to _kill_ Russel? If I'm remembering correctly their disagreement was with Russel insulting her bag, and, even though she loves her clothes, Coco would never kill someone over something so trivial."

"Your right, but who knows. Maybe there is something we don't know." Weiss said, also beginning to pick at her food. "But the police are already building a case against her."

Ruby suddenly piped up with a shout of victory. "Then we'll have to go find the truth ourselves!"

Yang, although happy to see her sister so pumped, was a little less ecstatic over her proclamation. "Sis, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, the cops already basically said she was guilty. But, do we know if there are any actual reasons beside circumstance?" Ruby asked, Yang took a second to think about it and found the logic slightly sound. "I mean, there could be something they aren't looking into."

"While that's true." Weiss started slowly. "We have no such leads and no other evidence to lead us in the right direction, I mean, unless you have some hidden clues in that skirt of yours."

Ruby deflated slightly but then steeled her resolve. She put one foot on the table triumphantly and raised a fist before declaring, "Well it looks like we'll just have to find some clues of our own gang! Ren, take your team and head down to where Russel was last seen, meanwhile we'll hit up the town looking for clues."

They then set off towards town to search for the truth behind the disappearance of one Russel Thrush, unaware of the man they would cross in doing so...

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 **Sorry the chapter is so short guys but I will continue in this one, and like I said before, I am still taking requests on story ideas so fire away. With that, I'll get started on a new chapter of "Needle in a Haystack".**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	17. Lucky Son of a Bitch

**By popular demand "Lucky Son of a Bitch" is the first story up and next will be "Jaune Arc Wants to Live a Quiet Life" so I hope you guys enjoy both.**

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 **Lucky Son of a Bitch:**

 **When Jaune Arc was born his aura was already activated due to complications with his birth. Since then, his semblance has been activated and has blessed him with supernatural luck in everything he does. However, "luck" is a very subjective thing and your luck might be another's misfortune.**

 **0-0-0-0**

I, Jaune Arc, wanted some ice cream.

Relatively simple goal right? It was a bright, hot midsummer day in Ansel, Vale and I wanted some ice cream to beat the heat. No man would fault me for such an endeavor right?

Le Sigh, if only it were as simple as it sounded. It had all gone pretty well up until I had some of the damn stuff in my hands, the trip was just fine and nothing had exploded or wrecked on my way over there. And now, a nice vanilla cone in hand, I felt an ominous premonition, like when you get a test back that you _know_ you did horribly on and you can kinda feel a sinking feeling in your gut? Yep, I had that.

I decided to make myself scarce before someone could get hurt but by the second step I took a hard fall. I mean, a really _hard_ fall. It probably would have been a twisted ankle if I didn't have aura with me. Yeah, about that, I've had since the doctors had to unlock it due to complications with my birth, there was only a 35% chance of success and yet here I am, lucky right?

Le sigh, yeah that's lucky me alright. Anyways, back to my story, my frozen treat splattered across the park's sidewalk which accented the _Crack!_ of my fall. Almost instantly people called to me to ask if I was ok to which I nodded wearily, used to this treatment, and waved off those who came closer to make sure I was ok. Then, off in the distance, I could see the beginning workings of my semblance.

A white ice cream van was currently barreling down the street towards the very spot I was standing. If I were to guess, judging by how the driver swerved and crossed red lights, the brakes were having some kind of issue at the moment. I just kinda rubbed my forehead and waited for it to be over, knowing I couldn't get involved unless more people wanted to get hurt.

The van, when it came close enough to my spot, flipped on its side and skidded into the park, tearing up grass and sidewalk as it rumbled towards me, and yet I didn't move an inch. The van spun slowly as it came near, buried in the dirt and concrete, and when the doors were less than 5 feet away they fell open, spraying a pile of delicious ice cream bars and snacks to land perfectly at my feet.

No one would even notice if I took them and left, no one would even question it. But I refused to let _it_ win me over using my own greed, and I made for the driver's side of the still overturned van. I opened the dented door and gingerly plucked out the ice cream man inside, judging by the angle of his right arm I'd say he suffered a complete breakage of the bone.

I carefully set him down and awaited the paramedics in case they had any questions for me. I took the time to look at the van itself, it was obviously beyond repair at this point and probably reached in the 60 thousands for damages. Not to mention the park which would probably require a couple hundred thousand in repairs, not to mention anyone or anything hit by the rampaging ice cream truck along the way.

"Aaagh, my brakes they were..." the ice cream man groaned. So it looks like I was right in the end, it was his breaks.

"Relax man, the medics are on the way so don't try to move." I responded lazily, maybe I was becoming desensitized to people getting horrifically injured in my presence. Ah, I suppose I should explain my rather "laissez-faire" attitude to this incredibly dangerous and damaging accident. In other words introductions were in order.

My name is Jaune Berwick Arc, I am 17 years old and the only male of 8 children. My sisters are a motley mix of huntresses, scientists, and a single novelist who publishes a rather racy book series that I am not a particular fan. Of course I have my aura unlocked and most importantly:

My semblance, Deus Ex Machina, gives me supernatural luck at the massive expense of others. So far, I have, inadvertently, hospitalized 49 people, caused millions in damages, and once destroyed a city block due to my semblance setting off a gas explosion.

It could be worse I suppose, I could be some poor sucker with _Misfortune_ instead of _Good Fortune_. Man that would suck ass to the most extreme. I sighed mournfully, I should probably head home before someone else gets hurt because of me.

The walk back was generally uneventful all things considered, some bird that took a flying poop landed on the guy next to me (dressed in a nice suit). The walk gave me time to contemplate my semblance and its mechanics, such as: do the events that transpire thanks to my semblance occur _because_ of my semblance, or do these events occur and my semblance uses them to benefit me the most at the cost of others?

It was an interesting theory to say the least, and one that I didn't wish to test out lest someone die because of it. And, of course, that was a _real_ danger when it came to testing out my semblance, I found that my relative impassiveness kept people atleast alive. To be honest, I was _afraid_ of my semblance simply because its potential to cause mayhem and my inability to control it were both key ingredients to a disaster waiting to happen.

When I was young, all I wanted to do was be a huntsman and save innocent people wherever I could. I grew up with that principle and that ideal until I became a teenager and puberty hit, needless to say I kinda figured out what was actually going on around me. What I treated as lucky occurrences were actually accidents and dangers for everyone else, and the more I capitalized on them the more I felt that I was taking advantage of those people's suffering.

So, albeit rather unwillingly, I've grown apathetic to some degree about my surroundings. I'm not an emo, or a psychopath but I found that distancing myself from something out of my control keeps me sane. You could argue I have a personal responsibility to control my semblance and not let it wreak havoc, but to that I say how? How do you control your semblance that is supernatural luck? By hiding yourself away from everyone else in the world?

Well, that's not fair to me. I'm still a 17 year old kid and I deserve to have some social interaction with friends and family, and I'm not gonna go into hiding because of a semblance I can't control. Well, now that I got that off my chest I can get back to the real world right?

I entered my house, a modest three story brick one that had been standing since time immemorial, and was greeted by my mom and little sister Rowena. Rowena was happily enjoying some dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets while watching the TV while my mom sat on the couch and braided her hair. As I entered, Rowena looked at me and smiled while my mom's eyes crinkled somewhat.

"I heard there was some accident down at the park not too long ago." she asked, in an amused, but tired, way. "Wanna tell me what happened."

"Ice cream truck flipped into the park." I responded boringly.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Imagine all the free ice cream for the taking huh."

Rowena suddenly chimed in, excited like all little kids are. "Oh! Big brother did you bring back some!?"

I chuckled a little bit but shook my head. "No Rowena because that would have been stealing, and I would have been taking advantage of the injured."

Rowena pouted some what which turned into a cry of indignation as I stole a nugget or her's. She hissed at me like a kitten and my mom chuckled while continually braiding her hair.

I elected to go upstairs for a bit and just relax, I had had enough for today and I settled into my bed for a quick nap. When I awoke the sun had begun to set so I decided to head downstairs to get some dinner. If I was lucky enough, hahaha, there'd be enough dinosaur nuggets left for me to get a good snack. When I got to the kitchen I found my mom chewing her nails, something she only did when she was nervous.

"Mom, everything ok?" I asked as I opened the fridge.

"No, your sisters, Rowena and Melody, went outside earlier and they haven't come home yet." I shut the fridge immediately and reached into our junk drawer for a flashlight. While the forests around our town weren't heavily populated by any Grimm, I still didn't want them out there at night. There was only so much a 9 year old and a 11 year old could do when lost in the wilderness.

Before I left I made sure to grab a rather large hunting knife of dad's. Melody had always been a more adventurous child and Rowena was intensely curious, a combination that got them in a lot of trouble. I reached the edge of the woods in no time, adrenaline kickstarting my senses, and I began my search. Ever since they started doing this we made sure that they knew they could only go to certain places for their own safety. I knew every "secret" spot of theirs so I roamed around the forest, checking each spot and yet finding nothing.

I had been at it for maybe 30 minutes when I heard the first howl. That blood-curdling sound that sent a chill up your back and told your brain to get on the express flight the fuck outta here. However, if Melody or Rowena were trapped, I needed to hunt that damn thing down. Despite my distaste for it I had the utmost faith in my semblance and knew that'd I be alive by the end of this.

I just hoped it wouldn't be at my sisters expense.

Dashing through the thicket I heard the howls get closer, and with it the sounds of whimpering that made my blood boil with rage. I finally tracked down the source of the sounds and found a relatively small beowulf cornering Rowena and Melody. It was no more than maybe 6 feet tall, and while certainly threatening, I knew how big these motherfuckers could get.

"Hey asshole!" I shouted, drawing its attention from my sisters. I needed to be brave, like dad would, for them atleast if nothing else. The monster snarled at me and drew closer, I needed to wrap this up quick, beowulves hunted in packs you see.

Not wasting time the imposing creature leap for me, intending to tear out my throat. In shock I took a step back and tripped on a root that had sprouted up from the ground, the Grimm flew overhead and completely missed its mark. As it tumbled down the rocky hillside I heard a sharp whine followed by a sickening crunch and peaked down below me.

The Grimm, already disappearing, had apparently cracked its head on a rock that had been jutting out of the door. It completely caved the creature's skull in leaving a trail of thick, black goo all the way down.

Shaking my head of that, I ran to my sisters and picked them up with my aura-enhanced strength. I ran like a bat out of hell back home to where they were greeted by my Mom, who was thoroughly pissed off, and my Dad, who was geared up for battle.

Dad patted me on the back and said: "Well son, looks like you still got the makings of a hunter in you!"

I smiled and punched his chest lightly and we watched my mom chew out both Melody and Rowena, as well as ground them too! They both sat there with their heads down and accepted the punishment while Dad and I laughed a little at their expense.

Then of course, my dad being hyperactive as shit, dragged me to the downstairs bar to listen about what happened. By the end of my story my Dad was in tears at the thought of such a dangerous threat to humanity killing itself by launching its massive body down a hill. The image was admittedly hilarious and I couldn't help laughing a little bit.

My dad tossed me a small can as a victory drink, it was nothing special, like a 2% alcohol base, and I drank it slowly as my dead talked about his recent hunts. He and I got along like two peas in a pod, while my mom was smart, calm, and collected Dad was like a man-child who could flatten a house with his hammer if it got in his way. I liked my family a lot, and that was the best part I supposed. Despite my shitty semblance my family didn't care, they still loved me either way.

Still though, what if I could become a hunter?


	18. A Beacon in the Night (3)

**A Beacon in the Night:**

 **Jaune's gotten himself into another mess, one with a body this time, and has to call in an old flame of his to help. Perhaps she could be of some use in this case, after all, Melanie always had a knack for sticking her nose where it didn't belong.**

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Hauling a body around the downtown of Vale was actually easier than one might expect. Especially if you go through the narrows, those people could hear a murder outside their window and all they'd do is close their blinds. Furthermore, a dashing rogue such as myself knew how to navigate the shady underbelly of Vale's ghettos all the way to Junior's Club.

I was being as quiet as possible, which was made difficult by the rampant squawking of one Melanie Militades.

" _Where do you get off Arc? Leaving after some one night stand like I'm another one of your floosies. Well I won't have it!_ " Melanie snarled from the other end. I sweat slightly at her aggressive tone, but to be fair I probably had it coming.

You see, Melanie and I, used to have this on-off relationship thing so to speak. My job as a selfless, handsome, yet rougish, private eye clashed with her dark and mysterious gang security job a lot, so we knew eachother by face and name before we got together. After that, I ended up working a case for Melanie which involved some very personal, and very sensitive, business which I resolved with efficiency.

Her payment and following "payments" were much appreciated and we ended up hitting it off together. I'm not sure if I believed, even then, that our relationship was going to last, for it was built on the fragile foundations of passion and that rarely ended well for a couple. Our jobs clashed occasionally and we found ourselves drifting apart, Melanie didn't take it well and neither did I, but we both had our ways of dealing with it.

Melanie, being kinda bratty and snobbish, took our falling out as some sort of personal offense as if I had been fucking another girl behind her back. I knew telling her I there was no other girl was fruitless, that was just the way she was and I could never hate her for it, not when I fell in love with the same person. As for me, I resorted into an alcoholic spiral of self-destruction, caught up in what could have been and feeling the dull ache of what happened when I was rejected by Beacon all over again. A good friend of mine pulled me out of that slump, and now we act like a couple of divorcees with occasional bouts of hate sex.

Besides the point I know, but it explains her attitude.

"Melanie, it wasn't a one night stand and you know it." I sighed.

" _Regardless, you, Jaune Arc, are a scoundrel with a silver tongue and I refuse to get dragged into another one of your hairbrained schemes._ " she cried petulantly, yep that was my darling ex.

"Melanie this is serious, I can't tell you why but I need help hiding this body." I chewed my lip, Melanie was the only person I could trust to not ask questions about this mess. "Seriously, if you can't help me with this it could mean my head!"

" _Oh, whatever shall I do then._ " goddammit Melanie.

"Please, I'm asking nicely here. I'm paying too." I bargained, I heard her huff and mutter something to herself.

" _Whatever Jaune, come over to the Red Room right now and we'll handle it._ " thank god, because that was the only explanation I could find for this right now. Divine Intervention.

"I'm almost outside actually, I'll be right in."

" _Go around back you idiot!_ "

"Fine." I sighed again, she had a point I suppose. When I got around back I found Melanie, her sister Militia, and a few goons of Junior's waiting out back. I dumped the faunus girl I had been carrying unceremoniously on the ground, call me cruel if you want, the gaggle of goons came out with a rug and rolled her up in it before heading inside to do god knows what to remove all the evidence.

By morning, it would be labeled as another hate crime or something. I didn't really care right now, right now I was facing down a pissed off, bratty woman with a pair stiletto heels made of knives.

"Good to see you Militia." I smiled wearily, all I wanted right now was to take a hot shower and go to bed on my favorite couch. Militia smiled slightly, seemingly more amused by the situation than anything, but Melanie gave me a glare that could turn a man to stone. One I was used to as well.

"Don't try putting the moves on my sister Jaune, I won't allow." Melanie said icily.

"I'm not Melanie. How have you been."

"Oh? So you care now then?"

"Melanie, you know I care about you." I said tiredly, as if I was explaining it to a child which I kinda was.

"Hmph, think you can get into my combat skirt that easily do you? I'm not like that hussy you were fucking behind my back."

"Christ Melanie, we both know there was no other woman." I whined, already tired of this argument.

"Yeah right, well you might as well come in and get all that blood and grime off you. You look like a goddamn homeless serial killer." she sniffed the air and her lips curled in distaste. "You smell like one too."

"Thanks Melanie, whatever would I do without you?"

"Shut up and come inside." she snapped, dragging me into the seedy bar along with her sister. When we got inside I saw Junior waiting there, smoking a cigarette and rubbing his temples.

"You know Jaune, you could make it a habit of _not_ causing me trouble." he sighed wearily.

"Oh, and where is the fun in that?" I said with a wry smile. He growled but just opted to shake his head and give up on trying to deal with me, a plan that would have worked better for all of us.

"If you two lovebirds are done, you smell like roadkill." Melanie said, sharply jabbing a finger into my chest before dragging me to one of the VIP rooms nearby. Junior's bar wasn't just a den of criminals and date rapists, no The Red Room catered to all tastes and had taken its fair share of VIPs and their associative "company" over the years, so the room was idealic for what I needed.

A large, soft bed, beautiful furniture decorating the room, a flat screen TV, and a bathroom that could probably hold a squad of Atlas troops if need be and a shower to match. I breathed all the lavish luxury in before I was thrown back into reality by my ex grabbing the scruff of my jacket and holding me at arm's bay like a sick animal , she dragged me over to the bathroom and shoving me inside.

"And don't come out until I can't detect even a single whiff of your foul scent." she hissed. "Because if I do, you're going back."

"Ok, but why are you staying here? Afraid I'll drown in the shower." her faced turned red and started to steam, but I wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or from anger.

"It would just like you to pull off a miracle like that Arc. But no, I'm staying here to make sure you don't knick any of our complimentary items." damn, and that soap was so nice too. Whatever, I didn't need to play her petty little games so I just stuck my nose in the air with a huff and locked the door.

Damn Melanie, I just wanted some help with a body and I end up getting a free shower for it. Now that might not seem so bad to the naked eye, but I was sure Melanie was going to lord this over my head for months. I can hear it now: " _How dare you Arc, after I let you use the club's VIP for free?_ "

I let the hot water run down my body- but god damn if this wasn't just what I needed. I felt my thoughts flicker back to the little faunus kid I killed, I couldn't quite call what I was feeling remorse, more like distaste.

I didn't like the idea of killing her, far from it, and I would have relished in the opportunity to just not have encountered her. But, in my opinion, there's a certain point where someone, even a normally innocent person, has become a dangerous loose end. This could happen over the course of months due to investigation, or it could be an instant wrong-place-wrong-time issue.

Regardless, it didn't matter. She had her orders from high command, and I had my fight or flight instincts. Still, what she said had irked me " _our leaders and benefactors want you to end this fruitless case_ ", I mean shit, what do they know about _me_?

Someone must have caught wind of this somehow. It could have been a leak somewhere along the line (which was doubtful) or it could be that Torchwick and his gaggle of fuzzy terrorists had more than a few ears and eyes around the city. Worse, when their assassin didn't come back, they'd keep sending more, they'd keep _pushing_ more and someone, who I cared about atleast, was going to get hurt.

I never drag people into my business, and I try to avoid doing so unintentionally if at all possible. It's because I feel for 'em you know? Some Joe Average that might be my Friend's Brother's Roommate could see where I was going the other night and then suddenly he's tied to a chair and interrogated by the mob for my whereabouts.

I really hate it when people get dragged into my shitfest.

I stepped out of the shower, squeaky clean and smelling like a hundred thousand roses. Of course, being the suave and handsome jerkass I was, I came out without anything on. That's right, full frontal baby! Part of me just wanted to see Melanie squirm, and the other part was latching onto the fact our last meetup was a lot more passionate than this one.

I like to think being a lady-killer is another part of the silver-age detective motif.

Melanie looked at me and gave a small " _tch_ " sound and turned away, but she wasn't fast enough to hide her blush. "Why, in god's name, Jaune, are you naked right now? If you think I'll let fawn all over you you have another thing coming."

"No fawning Melanie, but I think you remember what happened the last time we met. And I'd hate for this to end up so sour, y'know?"

"Put your clothes on you jackass and leave."

"Fine." I sighed much too dramatically, making a show of putting my clothes on. "Guess I'll just have to go home, cold and alone and without the feeling of your love. Maybe I'll be killed by another assassin, and my last thoughts will be of how I could never truly repay your kindness for tonight. Aghast! I shall go Melanie, but please, keep me in your thoughts and well wishes-"

"Just get over here you prick." she muttered.

"Hehe, works every time." I whispered to myself.

"What was that?"

"Ugh, just professing my love for you!"

"Right..."

0-0-0-0

I took off after a short bit of afterglow pillow talk, and a promise of returning soon, and booked it back to my personal island to brag of exploits to my most trusted confidant! Wyatt Earp was less than impressed and more focused on how hungry he was, so I, begrudgingly, gave him his food and called up Ozpin.

" _Mr. Arc, slept well-_ "

"Shut up and listen to me, last night I was jumped by a Fang assassin."

" _You... were? Are you ok?_ "

"Yeah, I'm fine but more importantly we have a problem: someone knows I was on this case Oz."

" _I see, that's... unwelcome._ "

"Yeah, you're telling me man. Anyways, someone must be keeping a close eye on me as of late so I need to be more careful with my movements. I think that spectacle down at the docks really fucked my shit up."

" _Do you think this will severely impair your ability to track Torchwick?_ "

"I'm not entirely sure. Killing one of their agents certainly doesn't help things. Look, I think I need some backup for this case, nothing major but someone who they would never suspect."

" _I think I can arrange that._ "

 **3 hours later...**

I was going to meet my new partner and subordinate. According to Oz they knew their way around some of the rougher parts of Vale and had a wealth of street smarts to back it up. According to their file, they had lived on the South Side of Ancyra, Mistral which basically meant they knew their way around the art of street life and street fighting.

I arrived there in a thoughtfully provided cab and was faced with another such car, standing outside it were both Goodwitch and Ozpin which surprised me, usually they'd send one of their lackeys to do something like this.

"Mr. Arc, so good to see you alive and well. I trust you had a full night?" Ozpin joked.

"Damn right, but maybe fuller for some than others." I laughed heartily, what can I say? Sex puts me in a good mood.

"Yes, a shame about that girl."

"Wasn't what I was referring to."

"Oh?"

"I met up with an ex of mine, you fill in the blanks." Ozpin took a moment and then began to chuckle while Goodwitch, who had been listening in, blushed slightly and growled something about men.

"Anyways, I would like to introduce you to your subordinate. He's been given instructions to listen to you if he wants to live." damn Oz, going straight for the jugular on this kid huh.

"Doesn't the kid have studying to do or something?"

"Well, this particular person has been falling behind so we offered him a deal: his complete service in return for extra credit, no homework too!" he motioned at the car and raised his voice. "You can come out now and meet your new employer."

The figure that emerged certainly was exotic, he was rather ratty and stood out from the crowd. He was smaller than me, only enhancing his rat-like qualities and he seemed lithe and agile. Beneath his clothing I could see trained muscle wired to kill creatures of the night, at his side were his weapons that impressed me with just their sheer creativity.

He stood there awkwardly, not really meeting my gaze but more like trying to decide if he should. He looked to Goodwitch who nodded at him, he cleared his throat and obviously wanted to say something but it came out in a hoarse whine. The kid did not seem to be very good at first impressions, or atleast not in conditions such as these I suppose.

Ozpin stepped in before this madness could continue any longer. "Mr. Arc, I'd like you to meet your new subordinate Mr. Russel Thrush.

0-0-0-0

 **Sorry I haven't written much lately you guys, school's back in session so I need to backpedal my writing schedule but I don't plan of giving anything up yet. Up next will be a new chapter of "Needle in a Haystack" and then another chapter here.**

 **Thanks for the patience guys.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	19. Among Friends and Monsters (2)

**Jesus fellas I don't know what to say except I'm sorry. I've been fucking slacking on all my stories in terms of length and time and that's not right. I've been dealing with some health shit recently so I may still be a little inaccurate with how the story is going to be updated but the next chapter on my page is going to be "A Needle in a Haystack" so thanks for being patient.**

 **Among Friends and Monsters:**

 **Jaune Arc is still adjusting to life after the war, and it hasn't been easy. With Beacon now getting into session how will the new student body react to eachother? My guess is not well.**

0-0-0-0

The room had become deathly quiet once "Yang" had bust through the door like an axe-murderer. Jaune blinked owlishly at her for a moment, mind running off on multiple tangents at once. Until it hit him, something she said when she came through the door...

"...A... Dragoness?" He said dumbly, still blinking.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I am Yang Xiao-Long of the esteemed Xiao-Long dragon clan!" she said merrily, punching a fist into her chest.

- _Xiao-Long Dragons were among some of the most influential players on the monster side during the war. Like all dragons they could breathe fire and their scales were nearly impenetrable to human weapons, so magic was primarily used to bring the beast's down. What makes the Xiao-Longs stand out is that their scales take on a bright, reflective golden hue that makes them extremely valuable.-_

 _A Xiao-Long dragon... In my room... And in human form..._ _What the higher ups would have given for an opportunity like this._ He stowed away that thought under the "Wartime" folder and decided to introduce himself.

"Jaune Arc, human." he said curtly, deciding not to throw out he may or may not be responsible for some of the deaths of her kin.

"Lie Ren, cerastes." Ren said casually.

Nora bounced excitedly while looking at Yang. "Ooh! Ooh! I'm Nora Valkyrie, and I'm a Valkyrie. Can you transform! I heard dragon scales were awesome!"

Pyrrha giggled slightly before introducing herself. "Pyrrha Nikos, amazoness."

It seemed like Yang took a second to take in that information, Ruby already having slid off her some time ago and watching her embarrassed. Her face twisted slightly, as if she had just eaten something sour before she finally spoke.

"Jaune, right? You're a human then?"

"Yeah." was all he responded with.

"Hunter?"

"...Yeah..." was this a challenge? He sure as hell hoped not, but atleast he'd have back up.

"Ok you two, we're not here to fight." Pyrrha said softly, but even Jaune could hear the strained worry in her voice. Yang's head swiveled between the two before she coughed into her fist.

"No it's just- I guess, thanks for looking out for Ruby. She's my adopted sister y'know?" Ruby shrunk into herself and Jaune nodded, already having experience in matters of family what with having 7 sisters and a dad that acted like a child.

He could hear Pyrrha breath a sigh of relief as Yang finally walked across the threshold and was followed by three others, Ruby, Weiss, and a currently unknown person.

"Hi, my name is Ruby Rose and I'm an Akuma demon! Of course, my adopted sister is Yang!" Ruby chirped happily, dressed in her usual Beacon attire.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee family and an adept mage." Weiss said cordially, bowing slightly.

The one in mostly black eyed Jaune sharply before introducing herself. "Blake Belladonna, cat spirit."

Well, that was certainly an interesting cast of characters. None of which Jaune could see himself fraternizing with, especially when said characters could easily eat his dead body should the mood strike them. He supposed it was a moot point, the teachers here would never let that happen so there was no use in worrying about it.

"Well guys it's been nice meeting you, but we still gotta unpack so..." Jaune trailed off, casting a glance at the door. Weiss seemed to get the hint and exited without another word, Blake sort of huffed at him then left, while Ruby and Yang said their goodbyes before leaving.

"Well, they were certainly interesting weren't they." Pyrrha asked to the room.

"Was it just me, or did the cat-girl not like me?" Jaune asked, looking to the only other male in the room.

"No, I felt it too. She did not like you that's for sure." Ren said quietly, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden intrusion.

"Well regardless, Jaune is right we need to unpack. Here's to a good school year!" Pyrrha said happily, raising a fist in the air. The others agreed in kind and made the move to start unpacking.

0-0-0-0

The morning had not been kind to anyone, least of all Jaune Arc. Beacon Academy was supposed to be a fresh start, a joint venture by both human and monster kind to help bridge the gap between both species after the war. The plan had been to create a population of still young people and have them mix to weed out prejudices and social problems stemming from the war. After that, the hope was those young people would go on to have kids and have them uphold the values they would learn at the academy. There were similar schools on every continent but Beacon, being the first, was world-renowned for its variety of staff and academics.

Getting up for class was nothing too dreadful, military discipline, instilled in both human and monster, made sure they could handle the early-morning rising without too much groaning. Jaune dressed himself in the rather classy Beacon uniform and waved goodbye to his bunkmates, he wanted to build some connections with the other humans while he could (yes, he knows that's the opposite of what he should be doing), and that meant putting his face out there for his fellow humans.

As Jaune got out of the dorm rooms he immediately recognized that something was wrong. He could see some assorted monsters and humans walking quickly away from some kind of epicenter where more of both parties gathered round. _Oh boy, I wonder what this could be_ he thought, wading through the crowd to get a better look at whatever spectacle was going on.

At the center of the shifting crowd there was 3 people. One human and two monsters on account of the bared fangs and red eyes respectively, the human stood across from the two and was in a frantic anger.

"I knew we couldn't trust your kind!" the man shouted, hand continually clutching his neck.

"Bullshit! I didn't do anything!" the one with fangs bared shouted back, hands clenching and unclenching.

Deciding to play the magic mediator Jaune pushed himself into the center and stood between the two.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked, looking between the two with his best "dad stare" as him comrades called him. Something he inherited from his father, of course, and, apparently, quite good and cowing someone.

"T-this _thing_ went for my neck just now!" The human shouted, pointing a finger at the one who still bared his fangs.

The man, a vampire perhaps, hissed. "Fuck off, I only bumped into you human."

"Then why did I feel your fangs scrape my neck!"

"You're imagining things!" the other monster shouted.

"Enough!" Jaune snapped, he rubbed his temples and sighed. "Did anyone call a teacher?"

"I think someone ran off to get one." came a voice from the crowd.

Jaune breathed deeply and pointed at the human. "Your name, what is it?"

"N-Nolan." the man stammered, looking down at the ground.

"And you two?"

"Bolin."

"Nadir. We're Dhampirs." the man said. He was certainly exotic enough to be one, what with the pink hair and tan skin.

- _Dhampirs are the offspring of humans and vampires. While uncommon there is a small portion of these "half-breeds" as some of both factions have taken to calling them across Remnant. While unusually resistant to silver they are more susceptible to their hunger, making them undesirable for both sides. They can be killed like normal vampires._ -

"See! Dhampirs! No wonder he tried to take a chunk outta-"

"Enough, Mr. Porfirio." came a clipped voice that parted the sea of students. Dr. Oobleck (as he had seen on the staff roster) strode in between them and judged the scene silently.

"Alright you three, you're going down to the office to handle this personally with Miss Goodwitch." the three students grumbled but shuffled off towards the building, each one keeping a distance from the other. "And you, Mr. Arc I presume, I suppose you stalled for me to get here."

"I suppose- look, don't go too hard on Nolan he's probably still jumpy from the war." Jaune tried to reason, looking out for a fellow human.

"And both Mr. Hori and Mr. Shiko must deal with a hunger out of their control." Oobleck replied casually, despite that I could tell he had riposted my reasoning and struck me.

"O-Of course, Doctor." I said, a hot wash of shame coming inexplicably over me.

"Relax young man, I didn't come here to scold _you_." he said, putting emphasis on the last word. Oobleck ran a hand through his green hair, the exotic color betraying his true identity, a leprechaun.

- _Leprechauns are widely known as fairy spirits in folklore. In the war, they, and their kin of the same family, meaning other faeries, acted as mages to the monster factions due to their predisposition to the arcane arts. Many a grudge has been formed between the magicians of man and monster due to the leprechaun's liking for practical jokes that usually end up with someone being injured horribly. Iron works best on them, like all faeries.-_

"R-Right, sorry sir." Jaune said, and then quickly extricated himself from the situation entirely. There were too many eyes on him, and, knowing about half of them belonged to creatures of the night, he did not wish to be the center of attention for much longer.

Speeding quickly out of the courtyard and into the main grounds of the school, Jaune checked his schedule and was relieved to find he had a free period this morning. Trying to do any work on his frayed nerves at the moment would most likely end with him blowing his fingers off with a bad spell. In the main grounds he found himself likening it to the airship ride, one side was predominantly human while the other was predominantly monster, with both sides throwing heated glares at the other.

Luckily, before he could be singled out again, Jaune caught the eye of his brother-in-arms Cardin and his right hand man Dove. Cardin saw him and motioned for him to come over, we he had his own group of friends that he had made.

"-Boys, I'd like to introduce you to our resident mage: Jaune Arc." Cardin said, gesturing towards the man himself. The other three men gathered around him welcomed him kindly and Jaune couldn't stop himself from breathing a sigh of relief.

"Thank fuck Cardin, poor guy got his ass busted by Oobleck back there." he said, recounting his tale to the group.

"Damn, that's a shame. Although you did the right thing, don't wanna fuck with no leprechaun." One of them, Mercury if he remembered right, shook his head. "Damn shame about Nolan though, he's my roommate."

"Eh, sure it's just war nerves. He'll be off the hook in a bit." Cardin said evenly, he then turned his attention to something behind Jaune. "Can't say the same for us it seems."

Jaune turned to see what his friend was looking at and soon found found it. Three people, one girl and two men, all dressed in thick clothing and bright red beanie hats. They were currently situated directly across from Cardin and his group and were giving them death glares. Jaune could see one grumble something to the others who nodded in agreement.

"Fuckin' Redcaps." one of the guys muttered beneath his breath. Jaune was inclined to agree, given what the little buggers were capable of.

- _Redcaps are extremely violent fairy spirits. A cousin to the leprechaun, Redcaps must constantly soak their hats in the blood of humans to keep themselves alive. During the war, Redcaps were used as a means of ensuing chaos on the battlefield and as high-profile guards to the castles of the monster faction leaders. Their extreme strength and dangerous tenacity makes them a common target for humans, like all Fairies they can be killed using iron.-_

"Jesus man, where do you think they get the blood for them hats?" Dove whispered to the group, Jaune fought down a shiver at the thought of Beacon or the government nabbing people off the street to be killed or taking away a body from a family to be drained of blood for _Redcaps_ of all creatures.

"Fuck man, I don't know. And I sure as hell ain't finding out." Mercury said, glaring back at the murderous faeries.

"Jaune, you ever kill a Redcap?" Cardin asked, turning towards him.

Jaune grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah, I fought one once. Worse fight of my life too, damn thing was stronger than an ox and ripped the guy in front of me in half."

"Fuck man, sorry you had to see that."

"Don't be, I lit that fucking elf on fire."

Cardin chuckled and fist bumped him, in his heart Jaune knew he shouldn't be bringing back memories from the war, but, for right now, it was just a means of catharsis. The group shuffled away as the bell sounded, each going off into their own separate ways. Jaune's first class was "Magical Intuition and the Subject of Study" with Professor Goodwitch.

He still couldn't believe, he, a competent but still young mage, was going to be learning of _the_ Glynda Goodwitch! Scholars back home would have only dreamt of getting such an honor in a hundred lifetimes! Goodwitch was widely recognized as the greatest witch in modern history, her ease of use in spellcraft and her calculated grasp on even the fringe sciences of magic were phenomenal!

He smiled happily and was lost in his that he didn't notice the man he was about to walk into. Bumping harshly against him with an "oof" Jaune could hear some papers fall as he cleared his head. Some poor schmuck was on his knees with a pile of notebooks strewn across the floor in front of him.

"Oh damn, hey man I'm sorry that was an accident." Jaune said looking to help the guy up. "Here let me help you-"

Jaune was suddenly pushed back roughly, taking a few steps back from the force. The guy on the floor got up, glowering at him with unbridled anger, Jaune could faintly see what looked to be pincers pushing their way out the back of his mouth.

"Look man, I said I was sorry it was an accident!"

"An accident? Yeah, sure. When push comes to shove it was just an "accident" then, huh?" The man, a Myrmecoleon apparently, hissed eyes turning slitted like a cat's.

- _A Myrmecoleon is an ant-lion hybrid that is adept at digging tunnels. During the war they dug underground pathways and guarded bases situated in caves or rocky terrain. Though intimidating, they can be killed normally with fire being the best use.-_

"Look man, I'm not looking for trouble. But if you wanna go I'll go." Jaune gestured around the hall that was beginning to pay attention to them. "Look at these people, they'll see that you started this."

"Like I give a shit, shoulda never trusted you humans." he spat angrily.

The man closed in on him and Jaune felt his body react with it. He breathed deeply, remembering all the training sessions and practice his coach used to tell him.

 _Breath deeply, feel the power ebbing through your body. Now harness it, push it into you hand and fingers. Do you got it? Ok, once it's there you need to feel that energy expelling out of your hands as hard and fast as possible..._

The telekinetic blast that emanated forth from Jaune's hands through the monster back into the wall. The creature hit it with a dull thud, and struggled to get up, either too dazed or too hurt to do so properly.

"You good man?" Jaune asked tentatively.

"Goddamn human, I'll get you you sonuvabitch." he grumbled, getting up awkwardly. The man made to charge once more but was stopped when he heard the sharp voice of someone ring through the halls.

"That's enough, Mr. Fiemma." Professor Goodwitch said, heels clicking through the halls as a redheaded student followed her close behind. "I was watching the entire thing as I cam over here. You are at fault, Mr. Fiemma."

"B-But this human- he pushed me!"

"No he did not, it was an honest mistake." Goodwitch said evenly adjusting her glasses. "Please report down to the principal's office, I will let him know you're coming."

Jaune sighed relieved, but quickly sucked it back in when Goodwitch regarded him. "And you, Mr. Arc, you are an adept mage with a vast potential to learn. I would have hoped you'd be mature enough to not use such a spell in such a crowded area. See to it that it does not happen again."

"Y-Yes ma'am."

As Goodwitch left Jaune felt a hand come down on his shoulder. Looking over he found the same redheaded student from before regarding him warmly, his beacon uniform slightly loosened all around.

"You good? I saw what was happening and figured you needed the help."

"Thanks for the save man, didn't want to kill that guy anyway." Jaune chuckled.

A ghost of a smile passed the redheaded man's lips. "Yeah, I feel ya. Disgusting little creatures aren't they?"

"Yeah, my name's Jaune. Your's?"

"My name's Adam, Adam Taurus."

0-0-0-0

 **Oh boy fellas a new chapter all done and done for you guys. I promise the next one will be for Needle in a Haystack so don't worry. I'm still working out my schedule so bare with me for a bit.**

 **By the way, "Mother!" is a terrible movie. I saw it yesterday and it was the worst film I've ever seen.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	20. Laughter is the Best Medicine

**Laughter is the Best Medicine:**

 **Jaune's semblance has slowly been killing him over the past 10 years. However undaunted, Jaune continued to pursue his dreams of being a huntsman. Whether this was because he desperately needed something to do, he hoped he would die somewhere in the woods, or he couldn't take another flinch from one of sisters whenever his semblance activated. "**

 **"Laughter is the Best Medicine is filmed in front of a live studio audience..."**

0-0-0-0

When Lie Ren first laid eyes on Jaune Arc he was tempted to go get the nurse. The poor guy was gaunt, had hollow eyes that were sunk into his head, and a scraggly scruff of stubble that permeated his face. The guy walked, hunched over and huddled into his jacket, around aimlessly the night before the big initiation test, not stopping to talk to any of the socializing people in the ballroom.

He was dressed in thick layers, a black shirt and green flannel underneath a heavy brown jacket. Occasionally he'd see the man pull the articles of clothing tighter, shake his head, and then meander off. Now, Lie Ren had been tired before, a 36 hour pancake and video game marathon left him worse for wear, but he refused to believe he ever looked as bad as this guy. The old sword in a scuffed sheath jangled on his side as he wandered to and fro, no one bothered to talk to him and people actually gave him a rather wide berth.

He saw a girl in a flowing red cape try to talk to him at one point. Ren vaguely remembered as being someone Jaune had helped up when she tripped earlier, however he did leave quite quickly after doing so, not exchanging a word. The girl was obviously trying to say something to him, but, once again, Jaune just watched with those dead eyes, hardly even breathing. Honestly the guy looked too sickly to even swing that sword of his let alone fight through whatever initiation had planned.

"Hey! Hey Ren! Watcha looking at?" his long time companion (but not like _that_ ) crowed from beside him. Nora bounced happily in her seat, taking a break from eating her pancakes to look at her friend.

"Nothing, just that guy over there." Ren replied.

"Ooooh, you mean Jaune?" Nora asked. They both only knew because Nora found him intriguing enough to pester him for a name.

"Yeah, doesn't something about him seem off to you Nora?"

"Besides the fact he looks like a withered corpse?

"Nora! Language." Ren chided her, she giggled and offered her apology and Ren turned back to trying to find his quarry only to find the man himself staring straight at him, less than 10 feet away. Jaune stared at him with a kind of quiet intensity, a look in his eye that Ren would only describe as a toss up between pleading and subtle curiosity.

"O-Oh, hello there! Sorry about Nora pestering you earlier, you get a little sugar in her and she becomes-" Ren tried to joke, only to find one of Jaune's cold hands covering his mouth.

"No, no more jokes." was all he whispered before removing his hand. Ren just stared dumbfounded by the man's actions, not to mention the fact the guy moved about 10 feet in the span of a few seconds and had a grip like cold iron.

"Yeah, ok." was all Ren said, Nora looking between the two slightly worried.

Jaune shuffled away as Ren could only stared perplexed at the young man. Did the guy have some weird phobia of jokes or something? Whatever it was, Ren could only hope he didn't go postal like Nora does when she's on a sugar high.

The rest of the night went ok, or Lie Ren thought it did. Jaune retired early and just sat there, huddled up on his bedroll and silent as usual. The next morning, however, yielded some very strange results.

Waking up hadn't been so bad atleast. Everyone was pumped for initiation and pretty much all you could see was smiling faces and courageous hunters-to-be, except of course one Jaune Arc. Ren wasn't even sure if the guy _changed_ let alone took a shower, perhaps he just didn't care enough to do either. Nora, being most intrigued by there withered companion saddled up next to him as they went to the cafeteria.

"So Jaune-Jaune, are you excited for initiation?" Nora asked, bumping his ribs with an elbow lightly. Jaune didn't say anything but opted to just nod, the poor guy looked like he got no sleep last night if the even darker circles beneath his eyes were any indication.

"Well, you know what they say! The early bird gets the worm!" Nora cheered sweetly.

Then, it happened...

 **HaHaHaHaHa!**

Laughter.

Laughter that came from absolutely nowhere. The troupe of hunters stopped dead in their tracks to look around, but, just like Ren and Nora, there was no sign of anyone laughing. Ren looked to Jaune for some recognition until he was struck with a weirdly chilling realization.

The laughter was the loudest around Arc. It was raucous and full of clapping and whistling that just seemed to drone on and on and it all seemed to be coming straight from Jaune.

The other students began to trace the sound back to the man standing next to him. Looks of confusion, shock, disbelief, and a myriad of other flavors stretched along the sea of students.

The laughter finally died down and Jaune sighed deeply, all 100 hundred pairs of eyes set on him.

"Yes, as you can see that was my semblance: Studio Audience." he slicked his hair back which gave an unfortunately clear view of his once slightly-covered face. Pale, unhealthy skin and more scruff made him look like a homeless bum rather than a huntsman. "There are literally no practical advantages to my semblance, other than the fact that I'm constantly assaulted by these bastard voices!"

 **Ooooooooh!**

There it was again, like a crowd of people who had watched their favorite sitcom character crack a witty retort. Silence filled the hall, even the teachers leading the group eyed their new student strangely.

Jaune gave a sickly cough before trudging off towards the cafeteria, as he passed people gave him a wide berth. Breakfast was a similarly odd affair, with Jaune sitting alone save for Ren and Nora who eyed him curiously. People continually sent looks their way, mostly at Jaune, while others decided to just ignore it for the most part.

"Hey Ren, can you pass the salt." Jaune asked him, Ren reached for it but was cut off by Nora.

"No don't worry Ren, I'm closer." he she reached for it but slightly misjudged her angle causing it to spill over the table. "Hehe, oops? Guess I got bad luck now then huh?"

 **HaHaHaHa!**

 **"Oh man that's priceless!"**

 **HaHaHaHa! HaHaHaHa!**

The laughter came back again, this time it was even worse. Ren could hear distinct voices making comments about the quality of Nora's "joke" (all of which were positive) as the laughter grew louder. Jaune just had this dead look in his eyes before he finally moved-

 _Clang! Clang! Clang!_

Ren watched as a 17 year old man with a semblance that produced a phantom studio audience banged his head against the table causing silverware to jump around slightly.

"Ugh Ja- _Clang!_ -Jaune? I don't think you should be doing that." Nora whisper tentatively, reaching over to stop their companion from giving himself brain damage. Funnily enough this was the moment Ren had an epiphany: _No wonder the poor guy looks like he's about to jump off a bridge, he's been living with this for god knows how long._

Eventually the breakfast group was dismissed to get their stuff from their lockers which proved an affair of its own. Ren and Nora were hesitant to leave their comrade behind in the face of his own semblance and tendencies, but they had no choice...

Pyrrha Nikos did not like being put on a pedestal, in fact she hated it. She was never allowed to make friends of her own, they had to be the right people of the right upbringing and of the right attitude to prevent them from tarnishing her reputation. People like Weiss Schnee flocked to her for her own fame and power and she disliked it immensely. She was more than just some idol to be fawned over!

She sighed wearily. _Well_ she thought _it could always be worse, you could be like that poor, poor boy._ She grimaced as she thought of the pale figure from before, years of _that_ would drive anyone to their grave.

Weiss kept yammering on about something or other before Pyrrha felt something bump into her. She turned to see who it was and found herself face-to-face with the young man from earlier.

"J-Jaune right? Nice to meet you!" Pyrrha stammered for a moment, extending a hand to him. He took it and, even through her gloves, she could feel how cold his hands were. It was like his body didn't give off any warmth.

"Ah yes, you are the... man from earlier." Weiss said tentatively, obviously uncomfortable at their newfound guest. Well she could leave then, this Jaune was the only person so far not to want to get with her for her reputation.

"Well Jaune, it's nice to meet you! I hope we can be on the same team!" Pyrrha said happily, she nearly squealed with joy when she thought she saw a ghost of a smile pass over the face of her hopefully partner.

"P-Pyrrha? You can't be serious! This- This _person_ has neither the physical build or even a useful semblance a hunter should have! If anything his semblance is more of an annoyance than anything!" Weiss said, flustered. A grimace nearly worked its way onto Pyrrha's face but she reigned it in expertly.

"Well, unlike you Weiss Schnee, I know that it isn't all about having a useful semblance or being build like a tank. You have to use _this_ as well." Jaune nearly wheezed out, tapping a finger to his forehead.

 **"Oh snap!"**

 **Oooooooooh!**

 **HaHaHaHa!**

 **"Yeah! Give it to 'em!"**

 **HaHaHaHa!**

Pyrrha couldn't help but cringe as the laughter and jeers came from thin air, the locker room had gone silent save for the "audience" and all eyes were on them. Weiss looked more dumbfounded than offended and Pyrrha just tried to work a smile onto her face. Jaune looked around at everyone who was staring at him and then back to both Pyrrha and Weiss, a look of profound pain flashed briefly across his face before he rushed out of the locker room, sword sheathed at his waist.

 _Nice one Pyrrha, one friend and you insult him_ Pyrrha mentally chided herself, deciding to not dwell on it any further she opted to get dressed and just leave. The entire time she kept an eye out for her friend before she found him sitting alongside two others she didn't recognize. Steeling every bit of her resolve she ventured over to where they were and stood awkwardly at the outer edge of their ring.

"So yeah Ren and I have- Oh! You're new! Wanna join our new team!? I call it the 'Nora's Awesome Fun Squad Sitcom Corps'!" the ginger girl said, throwing her hands into the air.

 **HaHaHaHa!** **HaHaHaHa!**

The girl's smile become slightly strained but she kept it on her face. Ren sighed and Jaune just shook his head, but Pyrrha giggled slightly and nodded at the girl's proposition.

" _Will all new students please report to the lecture hall for a small speech."_

"That's us guys!" Nora said, wrapping all three of them in a headlock before rocketing down the hall, thunderous laughter and applause trailing behind them...

0-0-0-0

If Ren could have described initiation in one word it would be: Odd.

Teaming up with Nora as his partner was a given, for she would have accepted no substitute. No, the weird part was the thunderous laughter and applause that played over and over and over and over again throughout the forest. When they arrived to get their relics, they found a grimy and sweaty pair of Jaune and Pyrrha picking up their own artifacts to the applause and approval of the audience. Turns out Jaune was pretty okay with a sword. Nothing spectacular and certainly not at the level of he or Nora, but good enough to make it past the Grimm in the forest.

Now here they were, Team LAVN (Lavender) led by himself, Lie Ren. To be honest he wasn't quite sure why he didn't choose Pyrrha over himself, Nora was an obvious one and Jaune looked like the worst person to try and lead people amongst them.

And yet, here was Pyrrha Nikos the champion herself and she wasn't picked. Maybe she just wasn't used to ordering people around either, so, with a sigh, he nodded his thanks at the headmaster and they left the stage. Applause from the actual audience was unnecessary as the "audience" provided more than enough approval for night they moved their stuff into the dorms and decided to hit the hay a little earlier, as they showered and such Jaune's audience was quiet.

As they crawled into bed and shut the lights off, it wasn't more than 10 minutes later when theme music blared from every corner of the room. Cheery and upbeat with a catchy jingle the audience laughed and clapped alongside it. This went on for more than 45 seconds before it finally drew to a close, and Ren realized that Jaune had finally fallen asleep.

Laying there awake, gave Ren a lot to think about. How his newfound comrade had had to live for years like this, forever haunted by laughter and reactions he couldn't control. The more he thought about the darker it got, what of funerals? Of weddings? Would Jaune's audience laugh and laugh at his own misery? What would that do to a person?

Ren soon fell asleep and found himself stuck in a nightmare where he was forced to watch his village burn and his parents die once again. Only this time there was a constant laugh track looped over the carnage, over the combined misery of all those innocent lives. It was agony, the torture of being mocked by something you couldn't even see was heartbreaking, and his poor friend had to live like this day after day.

Ren faded in and out of sleep the rest of the night until he was awoken by a similar cheery tune somewhere around 7:30...


	21. Fastest Man in the World

**The Fastest Man in the World:**

 **Jaune Arc's semblance was always something people marveled at, well at first that is. Some are born with polarity or super strength, and then there are some gifted with advanced speed. Then, of course, there are some who gifted with _advanced_ speed. Jaune just happened to be that person. Jaune also happens to be a sarcastic dick. Hard to love, harder to hate as they say.**

0-0-0-0

Jaune Arc was an interesting fellow.

Yes one could say that.

A predisposition for laziness, mild kleptomania, and an attention span shorter than Glynda's tolerance for stupid people, Jaune Arc was an interesting man.

Coming to Beacon was pretty boring, he arrived before the first shuttle to the place had even taken off so he just zoomed around the place. Nicking the occasional piece of food or lien and whatnot. After an eternity of fucking with the upperclassman the bullheads arrived, and with it a mild reprieve from his boredom.

Ruby Rose, from her ID that was her name atleast. Fifteen, that was pretty young for a squirt like her. Didn't people usually have to be like, 17 or something to get in here? Whatever, he turned his attention back to the falling dust crystal that seemed to move through the air as if in slow motion. Of course to the two idiots who were fighting, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee apparently, this was all happening in about the span of a second.

Jaune walked over to the crystal and lazily plucked it out of the air as he resumed normal speed. Weiss was about to let loose what would be undoubtedly an ungodly shriek until she noticed that her precious dust crystal was safely in the hands of Jaune Arc. Of course she snatched it out of said hands with a sputter like he was holding her infant child, whatever it wasn't his problem.

"Weiss Schnee huh? I looked through your bags, gotta lot of stuff there." Jaune commented casually, Weiss's attention snapped to her luggage (which he had indeed gone through) before back to him.

"E-Excuse me? Did you just say your were pilfering my luggage?!" she screeched, Ruby slowly backing away from both of them.

"Yep." he yawned lazily, pulling out her ID from nowhere. "Got your ID too, didn't expect a Schnee to come here."

Weiss seemed content to just gape like a fish until she grabbed the card from his hand with wild tenacity. "Y-You thief! I should have you arrested!"

"Like you can catch me." Suddenly he was back to holding an ID, only this one from someone else. "Blake Belladonna huh? It's rude to spy on people."

Blake found herself taken aback for a moment, did this guy spot her somehow? She felt her pockets for her ID but was surprised to find it in the hand of this random guy. Utterly confused but also completely interested, Blake moved out of her hiding spot slowly, coming to face the group standing in the courtyard.

"That's quite impressive, what are you then a teleporter?" Blake asked, cocking her head at the uninterested boy in front of her.

"Who me?" he asked quickly, throwing a hand against his chest. "No, not me. I'm just fast, very fast."

The redheaded girl (Ruby was it?) suddenly gained a small gleam in her eyes for the first time since the whole debacle started. She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly as Weiss Schnee, the only person Blake definitively knew, inched away.

"Ooh! I'm fast! That's like my semblance and stuff!" she said excitedly, looking up at the guy.

"Really? That's cool, doesn't matter though you're slower than me." he rushed out before rubbing a playful hand on her hair. "Although, I guess I do feel a bond with other speedsters like me."

Ruby growled rather cutely, matting down her hair before huffing at him. "Well then Jaune, let's see who's slower. How about we race to the end of the courtyard?"

Jaune, Blake supposed was his name, smiled devilishly before agreeing. "Fine, but if I win you owe me some food."

Ruby's smile mirrored his. "Ok, and if I win you do my homework for a month."

Weiss groaned at the whole spectacle as the two squared off against eachother. Ruby was in some sort of running stance with one leg slightly forward and the rest of her body leaned down while Jaune stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"Weiss give me a countdown." Jaune said to which Weiss grumbled something that didn't sound like a "yes". "Fine, I'll do it then..."

"3..."

Ruby leaned farther he cloak billowing out behind her.

"2..."

Blake could see some of Jaune's muscles tense beneath his T-shirt.

"1..."

The whole courtyard was nearly silent, even Weiss seemed to be intrigued.

"...Go!"

And with that Ruby sped off, true to her word her semblance allowed her body to move at lightning speed. The cloak billowing around her making her seem like a red torpedo as rose petals scattered from around her. Blake looked to see where Jaune was only to find him already at the finish line checking his watch like some bored chaperone to a kid's field trip.

Ruby skidded to halt at the finish line and proudly looked behind no doubt trying to see where her challenger was. Blake popped a small smirk at the bemused look on her face when she didn't find him only for Jaune to tap her on her shoulder. The smaller girl jumped before whirling around, mouth agape as she looked at the distance between she and Weiss and then back to Jaune.

"B-But, n-no one has ever beat me in a race before!" she sputtered out, completely stunned.

Jaune smiled that cocky smile of his and shrugged his shoulders. "Told you that you were slower, now you owe me food come on."

And with that they just disappeared. As if they were never there leaving Blake and Weiss to just gawk at the space they were just in before a thought finally hit Blake.

"Did he give me back my id?"

There was a gust of wind and Blake saw the last few seconds before her ID card hit the pavement.

0-0-0-0

Ren was well, confused to put it simply.

Albeit that is normal when you're lifelong friends with Nora Valkyrie.

However, even her wildest exploits paled in comparison to initiation and the subsequent whirlwind that was Jaune Arc: his new team leader. To say initiation went by quick would be... well an understatement.

4 minutes and 59 seconds by the clock's count. A world record that has never been topped in all of recorded history of the huntsman academies, and that alone was enough to raise an eyebrow.

There he and Nora were, fighting a deathstalker that she had rattled from a cave, when all of the sudden they weren't. By that he meant they were suddenly at the relic place that Ozpin had set up, before them were one Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc.

 _"Saw that you didn't have partner we need a team you're teaming up with us, ok?" he sped out in the span of a few seconds._

 _"W-What? How did you-?"_

 _"Super speed, I pulled you guys from the deathstalker, not our problem let's go."_

And with that Ren and Nora grabbed matching relics and then suddenly, with a familiar dragging sensation, they were at the finishing gates where a flabbergasted teaching staff stood there. By now they had moved into their rooms and had begun to unpack, Ren and Nora throwing glances at eachother to convey their thoughts. So far their leader didn't seem so bad, lazy, sarcastic, and impatient sure but not a jerk like that Carbon Winchcrest or whatever.

He was atleast able to pull them out of harm's way and made sure they were ok after they got back to Beacon, but then again it could have been because he _needed_ 4 people for a team. Pyrrha Nikos was, well, rather charming and polite, a complete difference from how Ren imagined her (rather arrogant due to her champion status which he now felt slightly guilty for).

"Ren you good? Need help?" their leader asked in his usual rushed town of voice.

"No thank you, I'm fine."

"Cool, Pyrrha you good?" he asked, immediately shifting his attention away like some excited puppy.

"Y-Yes I'm fine."

"Nor-"

"All good glorious leader!"

"Coolio, I'm going to go steal some food from the cafeteria."

Pyrrha looked slightly shocked at that. "Food? But we just ate dinner not to mention that'd be stealing!"

Jaune just shrugged in a what-can-you-do manner. "Sorry, I got a very, very high metabolism thanks to my semblance and I'm also a pathological kleptomaniac."

Pyrrha faltered for a moment as did Ren at the tidbit of info. "I-I see then, well please be careful."

"Chill I won't bring drama back to the dorm, I don't steal shit from people I know." and with that he zipped out of the room, nary a sound saved for a small wisp of wind as he exited.

"Well, he certainly seems eccentric." Ren said, trying to make casual conversation.

"Yeah, eccentra-whatever and cool!" Nora cheered, bouncing on her bed.

"Yes well, maybe I can talk to him about stealing-"

"-Hey I'm back." Now Ren was usually a serene guy that required a lot to surprise him. He had trained in aura control until he could feel everything subtle movement around him with some meditation. But Jaune just _showed up_ , by that he meant that the guy just appeared out of nowhere and managed to stop right behind you. So of course he jumped just a little.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare I got Nora food." he explained casually, throwing a pink-frosted cupcake at said Nora who happily took 75% of it in one bite.

"Mmph! Fanks gworious reader!" she said with a full mouth, small crumbs spilling out.

"Nora, don't chew with your mouth full." Ren chastised motherly, wagging a finger. Nora, of course being Nora, swallowed and smiled looking not the least bit repentant.

Pyrrha giggled slightly, they certainly were a handful now that she thought about it. A kleptomaniac, a champion, a suger-addled Valkyrie, and a ninja did make for an interesting team dynamic.

However she couldn't help but think that it got along quite well.


	22. Electrical Arc Radio

**Before this next chapter, I know this is going to sound a little strange, would any of you guys want a sequel to chapter 2? Mind you it would be no holds barred (I'm thinking of using Velvet) so tell me what you think.**

 **0-0-0-0**

 **Electrical Arc Radio:**

 **Jaune has always had issues with talking to people in person. He was clumsy, bashful, and a hopeless flirt which made him lose almost nay confidence with talking to people before he entered Beacon. However when a new idea comes up for Beacon as a way to relieve stress, Jaune finds he has an aptitude for it.**

0-0-0-0

It was a dreary night in Vale, the sky was pitch black and rain came down like bad vibes all around the city. Still, there was something cozy about looking out of your dorm and seeing those twinkling lights off in the distance, in a way it was perfect night to settle in with a cozy cup of tea and chat with friends while the cold raged outside. For Jaune Arc, however, he was engaging in his newest, and most favorite, hobby.

"Yes it's a cold, cold night out there folks but let me throw something on the fire that might warm you up. This is "Personality" by Johnny Mercer! I hope you ladies and gentlemen enjoy." Jaune said, relaxing in his comfy chair as the upbeat song played all across Beacon's radio system and even into Vale.

"Electrical Arc Radio" was an idea Jaune had come up with in order to help Beacon seem a little more affectionate. Despite being a total wad in normal conversation, he had a knack for getting that "radio host" charm with his announcements. Pyrrha and his team were pretty encouraging and supportive as well as Team RWBY (even Weiss surprisingly) and the students seemed to like it too.

As the song neared its end Jaune heard his longtime companion and best bro Ren come through the door carrying a couple mugs of steaming cocoa. Together the two were pretty enjoyed throughout Beacon with Ren's calming voice contrasting with Jaune's quirky humor.

The last final notes played and Jaune pressed the "talk" button once again.

"Did you ladies and fellas like that? Well I hope you all are taking care of yourselves, I don't know what I'd do if you got sick." he finished sweetly, pressing play on "Worry Worry Worry" by the Three Sons.

"Man, I still can't believe we get to do this for free." Ren chuckled, sliding over a cup of the steaming chocolate liquid which Jaune happily drank. For the most part the two co-hosted the station in the evening where they'd play some classics and project "chill vibes" as Sun had called it. They'd both gotten a lot of love from the teaching staff and the students for providing everyone with a little humor.

When they weren't directly hosting the station would play reruns of Jaune's special playlist and at 6 PM sharp the two would return to the studio and finish their homework while hosting their favorite station.

As the last few notes played Jaune picked up a small piece of paper from a similar pile and began to read. "Well I thank everyone who had tuned in just to listen to that, and now of course it's time to read some fan mail. Julia writes: 'Dear Jaune and Ren, I hope you two get this in good health, my team and I enjoy your station and listen to it while we work', we have an upcoming mission and I can't wait to hear the station when I get back."

Ren decided to chime in as Jaune finished. "Well thanks for that Julia please be careful on your next mission, we can hardly wait for you to return."

And so the night carried on, the duo answering more fan mail and just chatting with eachother as time ticked by. Jaune had mostly taken over the role of providing some commentary while Ren reported on the more important stuff.

"In other news, the Vytal festival is coming up and I know each and every one of you can't wait to try out for it." Jaune said jovially, sipping on his hot drink. "Well all I can do is wish you all good luck, you'll have to compete with the lovely ladies of Team RWBY, CFVY, and of course my own favorite: Team JNPR."

"You're right about that, my partner, Nora Valkyrie, threatened to waterboard us with maple syrup if we didn't let her compete so if we need to get a little viscous, just remember that it isn't personal." The two laughed as they continued onward with their news story.

"To everyone who has the misfortune of having Professor Port for survival skills, remember you have that big project due this Friday. So if you need to pull some all-nighters I would begin that now." Jaune continued, leaning back in his chair as he could almost hear the collective groan from Port's students. "And if the distinguished professor is listening right now, please, on behalf of your students, dial the talking back would you."

Ren smirked as the two shared another quiet laugh, he supposed that is was good to throw your listeners a bone every once in awhile. Suddenly the studio's phone began to ring and Ren's team leader reached over to pick it up.

"Well, well, well, speak of the devil. Professor Port what can we do for you?" Jaune smirked as the portly professor could be heard muttering something inaudible.

"Wha-? Oh yes! My boy I take great offence to your insult of me talking to much, my students love my stories!" Professor Port said jovially, no doubt making some silly pose. "But you can make it up to Mr. Arc, would you please play me 'Orange Coloured Sky' by Mr. King Cole please!"

"Well I don't want detention so you got it Professor! Enjoy."

"Capital my dear boy, consider yourself forgiven."

The dulcet notes began to play as both the hosts found themselves staring at the clock. 9:47 already? Time sure did fly by when you made the most of it entertaining the school's faculty and student body. Ren yawned tiredly as both he and his friend shared a nearly invisible nod, it was about time to head off for the night.

Minutes later at Nat King Cole's masterpiece chimed its end.

Jaune leaned forward and smiled happily, and a little lazily. "I hope you liked that, Nat King Cole is something isn't he? Well we gotta head off for the night, be careful and be safe everyone!"

Jaune turned on the automatic playlist and the two hosts gathered themselves and left, flicking off the light switch for another night...

0-0-0-0

 **So yeah, a short one I know but it seemed kinda wholesome to me. The next update will be "Among Friend's and Monsters" and I'll hopefully have another chapter of "Needle in a Haystack" by Thanksgiving.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	23. When Time Isn't On Our Side (Re-write)

**When Time Isn't On Our Side:**

 **When Ozpin fell in battle his spirit did not die, instead it wandered to find a new host. But in this world, Jaune Arc never ventured to Beacon, being the weaker of a pair of twins one of whom did, and was instead a prime candidate to become a new host for the former headmaster. Now, months before Beacon's fall has been scheduled, Jaune must race against the clock to save his sister, the huntsman academies, and perhaps the world.**

0-0-0-0

 _ **At an unknown location...**_

 _"Such arrogance." a seductive voice crooned from out of the darkness. A figure wrapped in a fiery dress sashayed over to where the prominent headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin, stood poised to attack with his cane._

 _He had been expecting this for some time to be honest. The mission, the circumstances, and the whole air of deceit around the whole thing reeked of treachery, but, at the same time, he could not ignore this for what it was. Instead, the old wizard took aim with his trusty weapon at the figure shrouded in darkness. He did not truly know her name, but it mattered little at the moment. This woman was an agent of_ her _he knew it, her pawns had always been so easy to identify in the field._

 _"I will not allow my kingdom, my race to fall to your mistress's clutches you pawn." Ozpin said dangerously, the air seemed to heat around the woman who snarled at the remark._

 _"You will regret your actions you dusty old man!" she growled, conjuring spears of flame to immolate the old headmaster. Luckily Ozpin danced around them with eerie grace, the kind of skill that spoke of a lifetime of experience. His cane flourished as it cut through the air in green arcs of aura, the woman dashed away from them narrowly avoiding being bisected by a particularly savage stroke._

 _Running a hand along the ground as she slid back, the very earth beneath them turned to volcanic glass and raised itself in the air in the form of wicked blades. Clenching a fist the daggers surged forth, trying to shred the old man to bits. However, as they got close, the Headmaster acted drawing forth from his semblance and slicing through all of them cleanly, grinding them into harmless dust._

 _"You do not scare me, pawn." Ozpin remarked lowly, clutching his cane tighter._

 _The woman made no remark as she was put on the defensive, Ozpin had stabbed forward like a fencer and nearly pierced the fiery woman's heart with his cane. The woman having barely blocked it, was suddenly subjected by a flurry of stabbing thrusts that exploded across her body like small, emerald grenades. The final stabbed swung her across the floor with an agonized yelp and a wet squelch, she landed on her back dazed and confused._

 _Slowly, and with practiced calm the old wizard lumbered forward, intending to end this battle with a final swing of his cane. As he drew near the woman desperately attempted to claw out a breath from her bruised lungs, her aura would do no help as it had been nearly shattered in that last attack. Ozpin loomed over the gasping form, cane grasped firmly in hand, but as he raised a swing that would have surely removed her head the woman sprung her trap._

 _Beneath the headmaster's very feet the earth screamed like the dying caw of some bird. Fiery red circles of pure aura surged underneath Ozpin as they spun fast, so fast that they seemed like a blur._

 _Then they erupted._

 _And with the force of a warehouse of dust being set ablaze the world faded into a searing light. Ozpin could feel his body vaporize against the immense heat and force of the trap, and yet he felt a sense of weary calm, and something akin to grim acceptance. The old wizard felt his body drag upwards, away from the carnage below as the light was replaced with darkness that seemed much more natural than the searing explosion from before..._

 _In the darkness of a bedroom, a clumsy hand smacked across the wall looking for the light switch. Eventually it located its target and with a soft_ click! _the room was illuminated with bright light. It seemed rather normal, something a boy from a small town might have with posters for bands and video games strewn across the wall and some clothes laid across the floor._

 _However, on the door, there was a curious symbol. Perhaps it'd be more apt to call it a crest than anything else, a pair of crescent moon-like slashes layered over one another. They were a vibrant yellow and were placed upon the wooden door with definite pride, given they were perhaps the most well-kept thing in the entire room as well as the feeling emitted as the figure laid eyes upon them._

 _Somewhere, deep inside, the spiritual form of Headmaster Ozpin could feel the connection building bridges across memories, and feelings, and ideas, and thoughts. Nearly overwhelmed had this not been a new experience, the distinguished professor could only breath two words..._

 _"Jaune Arc..."_

0-0-0-0

 **2 weeks later...**

Jaune trudged downstairs, yawning loudly as the weekend sunshine had come to bare its ugly fangs through the glass windows of the modest kitchen. The place itself seemed ransacked almost, a mess left across the table, the island, and even the microwave signalling his parents had torn through the establishment before he did. Sighing to himself, Jaune prepared himself some coffee and took out what out some flavorings and the like.

More zombie than man, the 17 year old dumped some sugar and cream into the pitch black coffee that steamed beneath him. Even as the color turned into a more warm chocolate brown Jaune fought to keep a grimace from himself, man did he hate coffee.

" _Mister Arc, do you truly hate coffee so much that you must taint it with all of this sugar and cream?_ " came the sagely voice from within him.

"Shut it." was his simple response to that predicament.

The voice simply sighed, the entity that called itself "Ozpin", currently residing within one Jaune Arc, had been far too used to this conversation already. Ozpin had had some rather... stubborn hosts before but this was truly something special. The boy rarely even acknowledged his presence and when he did it was only to ask, rather unpolitely, for him to quiet down.

The only reason Jaune was even drinking coffee was because Ozpin had asked for it so much, the spirit yearning for that rich bean-scented liquid. He would have preferred it black or even the cafeteria's special brew, but this was some condolence the aged headmaster supposed.

" _Jaune please, I understand how... jarring this is to accept but people are in danger._ " Ozpin implored, he could faintly feel a tug of the facial muscles and the small burst of uncomfortable emotion within the young man. The old wizard could tell the idea of leaving people in danger irked him, but it did not seem he fully trusted Ozpin's word as of yet.

"Yes, I'm only hearing a voice in my head. Jarring is a good word." Jaune remarked sardonically, making Ozpin mentally roll his eyes. Thickheaded like his third incarnation but of course.

" _Jaune, what must I say to prove it to you? I am truly the former headmaster of Beacon Academy, I am Professor Ozpin!_ " the voice cried out, attempting to reach its host somehow.

"No, no." Jaune said, shaking his head and sipping some more of the repugnant drink. "I just sick, sick in the head yes, but sick nonetheless."

" _You're not sick Jaune, you've been gifted with incredible opportunity in this life._ "

"Yeah, so what I'm the messiah am I?" Jaune chuckled grimly. Ozpin did not believe he found it too funny, but, on the other hand, the old headmaster did not either.

" _No, you are the next vessel to host me. Please Jaune I beg of you! People, thousands maybe even millions, are in danger if you do not stop what is coming in time._ " The old headmaster begged to his new body. _  
_

"And why should I believe even a singled shred of your words, so far all I can say is that you claim to be Ozpin after he has suspiciously gone missing in the past few weeks?" Jaune spat, gripping the mug like his life depended on it.

" _Jaune please, I can do no more than speak to you. To guide you._ " Ozpin asked once again, watching as his host downed another sip of the heavenly brew. " _If you wish for proof then so be it. Jaune, tell me, what does the inside of General Ironwood's office look like?_ "

"It's shaded in dark blues and whites, of course, and it is furnished with a fine mahogany desk as well as matching bookshelves. James always did have an affinity to that glossy wood." Jaune explained casually, as if it were common knowledge to him. The truth of what he said only seemed to set in a moment later as he stopped mid-sip of his coffee.

"H-How... No that wasn't right, was it?" The young man asked, setting the cup down with tremoring hands.

" _Do you believe me now, Jaune?_ "

"I-How did I know about...? James..." Jaune mumbled to himself before going quiet, seemingly mulling something over with himself. "Ok, I'll bite then Ozpin. Tell me what you know."

Ozpin gave a victorious smile from within Jaune's very soul, if he had known it would be that easy. " _Well Mister Arc, as you know I am Ozpin, former headmaster of Beacon Academy. But I am so much more as well, truth be told I am the seventh or so incarnation of the wizard from the Four Maidens Tale._ "

"I thought it was just a fairy tale?" Jaune asked, seemingly perplexed.

" _Every tale has to begin from somewhere, Jaune, and mine was written into more of a memoir than a mere myth to help kids sleep at night. Continuing on, however, I am the one who gave the four maidens their original gifts. Back then I was little more than a bitter old wizard, alone and unhappy with what I had wrought for myself in those days. The maidens, similar to how I am now, would continue their line by hopping from one young female to the next when the old one eventually perished..._ "

"So... You're saying there are others like me then?" The blonde-haired boy asked, almost nervously.

" _Yes and no, while the power, experiences, and even some of the memories and impressions left by the previous host pass on the, the entire consciousness does not. That is because when I gave them their power, I could not truly replicate one such as my own, but moving on as I myself grew weak and frail with age I soon realized that it was time that I move on from this world. And with that sentiment I passed on, leaving my first body as I projected myself into the next. I would continue this cycle for years, when one body grew too old or another perished in the battle against evil I would find a suitable new candidate for my soul. You are my eighth, Jaune._ "

"I... What do you mean by evil?" he asked hesitantly, The old wizard gave a long suffering sigh before explaining once more.

" _The Grimm are not as leadlerless and disorganized as humanity might hope, neigh they have a leader who goes by the name of Salem. A crooked and foul creature of darkness who will stop at nothing to crush humanity into dust, into remnants of the past. I, my previous incarnations I mean, and a handful of my most loyal friends and followers have taken the fight to her time and time again. But to this day the threat remains, Salem is viscious, strong, crafty, cunning, and dangerous beyond any monster that walks the earth, soars through the skies, or glides through the seas._ "

"And what do I have to do with this?" Ozpin could feel the boy already knew.

" _Jaune, what I ask of you, my eighth reincarnation, is to take up my mantle once more and fight for your fellow humans. I will not lie, it will be dangerous, terrifying, and you have a good chance of dying at the end. But, if we can end Salem's reign, we can free humanity from its realm of fear and violence forever more."_

"I accept this then..." Jaune spoke quietly, coffee having lost its warmth minutes ago.

" _I understand this is so much to take in, so much to gamble. But, Jaune, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you will not die until you've lived a life full of happiness. When it comes to battle and such, I am pleased to say you could not have asked for a better training coach."_

 _"_ I'm putting a lot of trust into you Ozpin, here's hoping we can do this." Jaune whispered, going to brew another cup of coffee how the old headmaster liked it...

0-0-0-0

Ozpin could feel the boy's trepidation as he packed his essentials into a duffel bag and backpack. Jaune was still just a boy, and this whole thing was completely out of his element. As far as Ozpin could tell, the boy had never been in a serious fight in his entire life despite the fact both his parents were accomplished huntsman. The headmaster had taken some time to sift through his vessel's memories and found an interesting dynamic for his family.

His parents, Jolanda and Broderick Arc, were both accomplished huntsman in their fields. In fact, Ozpin could remember meeting the pair briefly on a few missions here and there. However, both parents had adamantly refused to train their children and completely discouraged the whole lifestyle due to the extreme danger it posed to them, even the mother and father duo would seldom go on missions nowadays.

Despite that, the youngest female, and subsequent twin of Jaune, Janessa, took to the lifestyle as a fish takes to water. The girl had an aptitude for swordplay that was undeniable and displayed a remarkable ability to increase the velocity of herself to pinball herself off surfaces and create quick, yet devastating, strikes. But the headmaster noted something of a rift between the twins, Janessa had apparently been unimpressed with most of her siblings and especially with her twin due to their lacking ability in the field of combat. Janessa was a proud spirit, and harbored the name of Arc proudly and saw herself the gleaming white knight who would uphold the legendary warrior line for generations to come.

Jaune, on the other hand, resented his twin, not only due to her abhorrent attitude, but also due to a deep jealously at his own inability to fight. Like his sister, he too wished to become a huntsman but had neither the ability, the time, nor the tools to train himself properly. Overall, the familial situation in the Arc household was terse at best more than a little pointed at worst. But, in the end, family is family and the wizened headmaster knew that his young protege was fiercely protective of his family. It reminded him of a close friend long ago, a name forgotten to time but a spirit that resembled so close to his new vessel.

Jaune had finished packing, and it was time to hit the road. The blonde boy felt a pit open up in his stomach as he stared along the dirt road that would ultimately begin his journey. Something about this whole situation was wrong.

And not just wrong in the sense that he was listening to a voice claiming to be a presumed deceased headmaster who was telling him to join the fight against what was apparently the root of all evil. But instead, it felt as though, even now, forces unseen pressured him from all sides and an unwelcome presence that wasn't there before lingered in the air like the stench of death.

Drumming his fingers against the handle of an old machete his father had stored away in the attic, Jaune steeled his resolved and took the first step down the road to his destiny.

Mark his words, he was going to regret this.


	24. The Serial Killer's Hotline

**The Serial Killer's Hotline:**

 **Jaune never attended combat school, or Beacon for that matter. His life had spiraled down the drain when what the doctors called "schizophrenia" hit him at 14. Jaune thought they were fools, he wasn't hearing things or imagining messages from mysterious benefactors were being left on his phone. No, his employers needed him, he was their professional, the clean up crew, the man who got the job done. When his bosses needed someone silenced, or maybe they wanted to remind a business partner of their contract, they always called The Professional...**

0-0-0-0

It was a hot night in the massive expanse of Vale, but gradually the heat had been giving way to a humid coolness that clung to the skin. In the lower reaches of the distinguished city, sat a shady, and seedy, motel and in room 13 lay a man with a mop of golden hair.

Jaune laid on his bed, hands behind his head, as he waited for a call. Any call really, his employers were being kinda slow with the work and, if he hadn't been their number one guy, he might've thought they'd fired him. But no, eventually the phone in the crumbling room gave its shrill cry, interrupting the otherwise silent atmosphere...

Once...

Twice...

 _Beep!_

 _"Hey Jaune, we got a little bit of a problem down at the Red Room on the east side."_ A low and rather gruff voice said from the other side. _"Turns out the DJ we hired didn't show up, and, well, we were thinking you'd head down there and act as a replacement for a bit. Personally, we think that the owner is skipping out on a few payments and maybe doesn't want to talk with us about it. I hoped you could change his mind, and remember: make sure the establishment pays you..."_

A vague and concerning message? Jaune sighed and sat up at the edge of his bed, cracking his neck and fingers, another job and another wad of cash given to him. That's really all it was, money, a job. It's not like he particularly found joy in hurting people, I mean, he took satisfaction in how thorough his work was but it didn't really excite him to extract someone's innards. In the end, this was just another job with a particularly good hazard pay and who was he to turn down such steady employment in the midst of a growing recession?

Schizophrenia, yeah right. Last time he checked, hallucinations don't leave you bundles of cash inexplicably out of nowhere when they tell you to do stuff. So what he was having visions of people he never knew in his dreams? So what if they were pestering him about his choices in life? It was probably just work related stress. Those doctors should go back to school and hand in their degrees, just because his work wasn't as glamorous as a huntsman's it doesn't mean they have to vilify it.

Sighing deeply, his personal scroll ringed again, and again, and again...

 _Beep!_

 _"Hey Jaune it's me, ugh, just calling in to see how you're doing...?"_ came a sweet and soft voice from the machine, a surge of throbbing pain shot through his head as it talked. _"Vale's been good to me bro, ugh, my partner is pretty cool so that's great... Ugh, mom and dad are worried about you again, they called me last night and told me you had to go to Vale on "business" whatever that means. So just ugh, please be careful and give me a call back when you can, love you."_

Twin sisters, or just twins in general really. Connected by that red string of fate crap, she probably felt his tremor of... whatever he felt nowadays. Fatigue? Weariness? Monotony?

Good questions all around, but he needed to punch in and it was time to get to work. He slipped into the beat up 1966 mustang and sighed as he turned the ignition, the car sputtered and coughed to life as the headlights grew brighter. Jaune threw it into reverse and off he went for the night...

0-0-0-0

The Red Room was, unsurprisingly, placed in the middle of the Red Light district. Courtesans were placed at every street corner and even shadier folk stuck to the dark alleyways of the seedy district. Jaune parked the car in the only free spot, halfway down the block, and picked up the duffel bag from the back seat as he neared the entrance.

Outside, two goonish bouncers awaited, looking at all who entered. Jaune walked up to the front of the line, ignoring the outcries, and stood facing the two security guards, they both seemed rather unimpressed and looked poised to escort him off the property, but before they could Jaune began to talk.

"I'm the replacement DJ you guys hired for the night." Jaune said lightly, trying to make himself seem unassuming. "Guy in charge said the last one cancelled right?"

The two goons looked at eachother before one pulled out a walkie-talkie and contacted someone on the other end.

"Hey boss, d'you hire a replacement for the DJ that skipped out?" the man asked in a heavy voice.

"Replace-? Dammit, one of the girls must've hired him, whatever send him in." came the annoyed and rather tired reply from the other end. The grunt jerked his head at the door and let the blonde man through.

Across the threshold held what was possibly the most lavish, and sensual, clubbing scene Jaune had ever laid eyes on. True to its word the majority of it seemed to be decorated in red, although the flashing red and white strobe lights seemed a bit garish to Jaune. Slinking off into an employee's only hallway, he knelt down and unzipped the duffel bag revealing the contents within.

A pistol, a knife, some spare magazines, and an assortment of working tools such as pliers, wrenches, and the like. But what stood out within the bag was a pure black hockey mask, tribalistic lines of red swathed the mask giving it a much more savage look. Jaune slowly, perhaps even gently, picked it out of the bag and slid it over his face; following that, he reached in once more to extract a much larger tool than all the others in the bag.

Zipping the duffel bag up again and placing it in a spare closet, The Professional hefted the large fireman's axe onto his shoulder and made for what could only have been the boss's office. He was not subtle, instead opting to kick in the door where the imposing man jumped from the sudden intrusion. It only took a few good seconds for the boss of the Red Room to put the pieces together.

"Replacement DJ my ass." he snorted derisively. "Look, whatever your bosses want I don't have, so how 'bout you get the hell out of my establishment before I sic all 50 guards in this place on your ass."

The Professional shrugged slightly, not really giving anything away before he stalked forward. The black-bearded man was already reaching for what appeared to be a large, red baseball bat as he kicked the desk towards the oncoming assassin.

As the two closed in on eachother, to The Professional, the world's colors changed and white noise began to fill the air with each step. Once the two were within swinging distance The Professional acted, swinging his axe in a wide arc across the owner's body who just barely managed to dance back. Seeing an opening, the bearded man swing his club right into his opponent's face sending through the remnants of the shattered door.

Not giving up for a moment, the man kept on his supposed assassin swing left and right, trying to hit him once more. Meanwhile, not to be caught off guard again, The Professional deftly dodged each swipe before returning one with a heaving vertical arc right onto the older man's forearm. Aura or not, the blade of the axe sliced through the suit he had been wearing and lodged itself right into the man's flesh.

The man howled in pain before swinging wildly in an attempt to dislodge the killer, unfortunately he had moved to slow and was instead greeted with an elbow right into his nose and chin. The axe came loose and the man fell backwards clutching his bleeding arm.

"Melanie! Militia! Kill this asshole!" he barked, and before The Professional could even truly act he felt a scathing blow connect with the side of his head. Whirling around, The Professional only barely caught the bladed heel that swept toward his head once more with the shaft of his axe. He threw the young looking girl off, someone who must've been her sister stalked up beside the one with the bladed heels.

"Who is this guy Melanie?" the one in a red dress asked.

"I don't know Miltia, but I think it's time we teach him a lesson." the one in white with the heels said before he lunged forward with a daring kick.

The Professional caught the blade with his axe before pushing forward and sending the girl off balance. Miltia picked up the slack and began to swipe with her red claws at the killer for hire who narrowly avoided being gutted by them. Suddenly, when the girl's guard was open, The Professional threw a wild haymaker into the side of her head and sent her to the floor with a loud _crack!_

"Miltia!" Melanie shouted before turning to growl at the masked man. She slid forward on the blades of her heels before executing multiple feints designed to throw off the mysterious man, she finally acted with another roundhouse. However, this time, instead of dodging or blocking, the killer took it without hesitation the heel cracking against the side of his head and grating against his aura.

But if the man even felt it he did not show as he grabbed hold of the girl's ankle and squeezed with as much force as he could muster. Melanie wailed in agony as she felt her ankle begin to crack under the immense pressure before she was saved by her uncle who knocked the man to the side with his bat. The man got up slowly, cracking his fingers and neck as the three injured stared him down.

"What are you here for?" The owner, Junior, asked impatiently still holding the bleeding gash in his arm.

"My benefactors wanted me to come and speak with you about some missing payments." The Professional spoke, face hidden behind the stoic mask. The two girls glanced between the two of them as more of Junior's guards began to take notice and surround him.

Junior called them off with a wave of his hand. "And I don't suppose we could call this even and pretend like nothing ever happened?"

The Professional seemed to consider that for a moment. "I suppose we could, as long as you didn't try and pull this again. Truthfully, my employers only want to make sure you're paying your dues."

Junior breathed heavily as he looked between everyone present, from the guards, to the girls, and finally back to his supposed assassin. He collected himself and dropped his bat, instead opting to grip his wound to try and slow the river of blood.

"Alright, alright. Consider it done, but I swear to god if even one of my guys ever sees you again the coroner is going to have to find which part of you _wasn't_ turned into a bloody mess." He growled, jabbing a finger at the man.

The Professional just shrugged before walking out the door as if nothing had ever happened, and, in the distance, sirens began to wail...

0-0-0-0

Back at Beacon a figure sat alone in the rec room, watching the TV as it played the morning news. No one else was up yet so she had plenty of time to be alone with her thoughts.

Perhaps she was panicking, perhaps she was overreacting, or maybe she wasn't...

" _In other news a local establishment, The Red Room, was suddenly under siege last night by an unknown, masked assailant. Witnesses described him as wielding an axe and brutally wounding the owner of the bar and club. Said bar and club was the epicenter of..._ "

The rest became static as the figure bit her thumb in concern, looking at the grainy picture of the masked man swinging an axe down onto someone...


	25. Alone, But Not Forgotten

**Alone, but not forgotten:**

 **Jaune was the black sheep of his family. The Arc's were renowned throughout the land as Beacons of hope and light, and they held great political intrigue and prowess in every kingdom. But that did not matter for Jaune, he was only a bastard taken into the family out of social embarrassment more than anything else. When his mother dies, Jaune finds his time with the Arcs is over, and he sets out on his own to find his father. With only a name to guide him, our intrepid hero must undertake this journey to find his father, Qrow.**

0-0-0-0

"Oh Jaune, you've done me so very, very proud." my mother trailed off, raising a pale hand to caress my cheek. She was quickly losing focus, in a few more minutes she'd be gone and so would I. "Please, do not hate me for forcing you into this awful life."

"I never did mom, you know that." I said, my face giving nothing away.

A silver tear trailed down her face. "Your father... I-I wish I had been able to give him to you, he'd have been so proud."

I squeezed her limp hand, it felt so fragile and weak. Her breathing beneath the sheets of the white bed became labored and slow, a sign that she was leaving me here very soon. She smiled that same sad smile, perhaps she was wishing that my father was here and that she was not alone here save for me.

"Oh Qrow, please take care of my baby..." she trailed off, a final wish for my father before she closed her eyes and stopped breathing. I laid her hand down gently, fluffed her pillow, and fixed her sheets so that she was tucked in and exited the room. The hallway outside was empty, save for the older woman who sat there leaning against the plaster walls. She regarded me with one eye, cracked open just enough to look at me.

"So is she...?" Blanca asked slowly to which I nodded. She sighed and stared into the ceiling before speaking again.

"This is it then, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." she murmured, not looking at me. "Perhaps we will meet again, and perhaps it will be on better terms."

A sentimental thought at the end of this road, and nothing more. Blanca never truly cared about me in any measurable way, not enough to stop the others from bullying and not enough to sway the bitter hate from Nicholas. But, in her own way, perhaps she felt some detached emotion when she looked at me in that sunlit hallway. I walked by her slowly, only pausing as she asked me another question.

"What now then? I assume you are leaving, but where will you go?" she asked, closing both her eyes again. "I know of someone who could use a squire, he's working on his third year at Haven, maybe he'd take you in."

"...Thank you Blanca, truly, but you know what I must do." I said, staring straight ahead.

She sighed heavily before making a small noise of agreement. "I understand, I wish you luck then Jaune, may your journey end in happiness."

And with that, and another pause of silence, I walked away, leaving her behind to find a duffel bag in the main hall. Nicholas Arc stood there, burly arms crossed, near the door and suit pressed so finely I wondered if he even had room to breath. I wordlessly picked up the duffel bug and paused once again near the door where I waited for him to say something.

"I... Your mother will get her place in the Arc family grave. I promise that." he rumbled and I nodded. It was a damn sight better than he had to do, especially for his wife that had cheated on him. "I would recommend you not return here, save for the Day of Remembrance when I will grant you passage to visit her."

"Thank you Nicholas, I wish this could have gone better." I acknowledged before stepping out into the warm summer air. Penniless, directionless, and without a weapon or clue where to go I made for the docks where the next boat to Vacuo would be leaving soon...

0-0-0-0

Vacuo was a place for stragglers, the unloved and forgotten, and the dangerous. So it was the only place where I could hope to find this man named Qrow, my father. I doubted that the sailors would take too kindly to me stowing away, but this was my only hope to get to Vacuo without being mauled by some Grimm. I felt the crates shift in the cargo hold as we left port, if I was correct, then we'd only make one more stop before we'd reach Puerto Del Sol near Vacuo.

The space was cramped and smelled thickly of spices, perhaps this was the ship I'd die on. I often found myself thinking stuff like that, after all, I was stowing away on a Vacuan spice ship, these guys would probably throw me overboard if they caught me. I wasn't sure how I felt about dying to be honest, it was less of an afterlife subject and more of how I would feel never getting to meet my father, but at the same time not having to worry so much about it.

The ship rocked back and forth soothingly, a small porthole illuminating the wide ocean which had been swathed in shades of orange and purple as the sun set. A wonderful sight to behold, and one that calmed my mind. Eventually I felt my eyelids grow heavy and knew sleep was near, so I crammed myself into a dark corner to prevent being discovered and let sleep take me away...

 **6 hours later...**

I was jostled awake by the boat's horn, having come in and out of sleep regularly, we had arrived at Evergreen Plains, the only stop before Puerto Del Sol. If I could just stay hidden then I'd be home free. I heard some nearing sounds of conversation and could faintly make out the outlines of two sailors in the moonlight, I silently folded in on the mass of crates I was behind to be safe and decided to listen.

"...Then he has the nerve to tell me to mind my own business!" one of them remarked to which the other made a sort of "tsk tsk" sound.

"Huntsman, I swear dude those guys act like they own the damn place." the girl, for it sounded like she was, sighed. "It's not that I'm not thankful, but do they have to be such assholes about it?"

"Yeah I know right, but I guess if we're attacked by Grimm then it's worth it right?"

"Yeah, you said it..."

Apparently finding what they came here for, the pair left continuing to chat along the way about this or that. It was another 3 hours before the boat set sail again and we were back on the shining waters, bound for Vacuo and hopefully my father. Once again, I drifted in and out before I was awoken at the sound of heavy steps coming down into the cargo hold.

"Hmm," I heard a gruff voice hum. "no, I could've sworn that..."

I slowed my breathing, who was this guy? A huntsman, a sailor? Either way, if he found me I'd be dead meat so I once again lowered myself into the tight corner and adjusted behind some of the boxes. I could hear boots thumping around the cargo hold, almost pacing, as they circled once, twice, and three times before they ended directly across from the boxes I was hiding behind.

"...And you would be?" the voice called out. I made no move, no sound at all to give away my position. It hardly mattered for I heard the distinct sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard.

"Come out now, I know you're there." I didn't move an inch. "I'll turn those boxes to kindling if you don't come out this instant, so you have to the count of three.

"One..."

If I stepped out, I'd be a goner. I'd never find my father and I would have wasted all my life away at that wretched house.

"Two..."

What if he was bluffing? Could he just be assuming that I was here? Could I take that chance?

"Having it you way then, thr-"

I got up slowly from behind the crates. Making enough sound that the man could acknowledge that I was here, and after a moment to take a deep breath, I exited from behind the crates standing up tall as I did. The huntsman across from me didn't lower his weapon, but his eyes flickered with definite surprise and he took a moment to sigh deeply.

"Who're you kid? A stowaway?" The man asked, lowering his sword only a tad.

I nodded silently and he seemed to ponder that for a moment.

"I'll have to take you to the captain kid, and I can't tell you what he's gonna do." The grizzled huntsman said, running a hand through his hair tiredly. I just nodded and followed along with him as he kept his weapon aimed at my back.

The walk to the bridge was uncomfortable, and it wasn't any better now that the crew had begun to stare intently at my back. Maybe this was it, maybe they were just gonna feed me to the Grimm. I'd have failed my mother, my life would've ended quite pathetically, and my dad might never know he had a son, but maybe the man didn't care anyways.

When we got to the bridge and the huntsman explained my story, the captain began to look over me with an inquisitive gaze. He rubbed the salt and pepper beard on his chain, quietly thinking what to do with me.

"Boy, why did you stowaway on my ship?" he asked, cocking his head.

"I needed passage to Vacuo, my dad might be there." I answered honestly, the captain hummed and narrowed his eyes. If I were to guess then he probably heard that one before.

"And why do you think your pa might be in Vacuo?" he asked.

"Mom always told me Vacuo was the place where all drifters ended up, a refuge for the unwanted and unsavory." I closed my eyes. "I figured it'd be as good a place as any to look for him."

The captain chuckled at that and eyed the huntsman who just shrugged a shoulder. "Well, can't say that you're very wrong about Vacuo there son. However, I don't appreciate stowaways on board my vessel."

"If it matters, I don't think the boy is lying. His emotions don't convey and desperation or trace of nervousness." the huntsman chimed in, I suppose it never struck me that the man was an empath.

"I see, well we have another 8 hours or so before we reach our destination." The captain smiled. "Tell you what, kid, if you work on this ship as hard as ever in your life until then we'll call it square. Sound good?"

I was speechless, this guy could've just done away with me and fed my body to some Grimm. In lieu of being unable to answer I wordlessly nodded my head, mouth agape in surprise.

The captain laughed heartily. "What, boy? Did ya think we were gonna just feed you to some Ankheilos? I ain't that cruel."

The huntsman nudged my shoulder and shuffled me off onto the deck of the ship to start working. Seeing as how most of the crew gave me glares and untrustworthy looks, I opted to stick close to the huntsman who patrolled the boat. I felt a little ridiculous, following this grown warrior like a lost puppy but whenever I offered to help one of the sailors I was answered with a "fuck off".

Eventually the huntsman stopped and gaze out along the sea. At first I thought he was admiring the few (for it was stunning) but I could see in his eyes he was looking, scanning for something.

"Grimm" I thought immediately. Why else would they charter a huntsman for a merchant's vessel? After a moment to make sure that the boat wasn't in danger, he sighed and leaned against the railing. As for me, I just stood there like a third wheel until he finally spoke.

"Grizzel." he said.

"Ugh... what?" I answered lamely, the huntsman shut his eyes before sighing.

"My name, it's Grizzel. Grizzel Bar." he said, opening his eyes to scan the sea. "Hey kid, I was wondering if what you were saying was true back there? About your dad?"

"Y-Yeah, my mom died today- or rather, yesterday I suppose, and she only left me with the first name of my dad." I said, leaning on the railing beside him. "Apparently he swooped in and whisked my mom away, and he left her saddled with me."

Grizzel laughed bitterly. "Yeah? Sorry to hear that kid, world's a shit place."

I laughed as well, equally bitter, and continued. "Yeah, it was made worse due to the fact she was married at the time. My, ugh, _foster father_ took me in due to the fact he couldn't have a scandal on his hands or he'd be in deep shit. I am- was, an Arc you see."

He eyed me, surprised if nothing else. "No shit? I thought you looked familiar, blonde hair and blue eyes and all, but _goddamn_ to be saddled with the bastard title in a family like that? Shit kid, you got my sympathy."

"Hmm, well you win some and you lose some." I hummed, resting my chin on the steel bar. "Now, I only got my dad left."

"Your dad's name kid, what is it?" Grizzel asked looking at me. "I get around a lot, might've heard something."

"I only know his first name, Qrow." that made Grizzel stop, and frown deeply before shaking his head.

"How was it spelled. D'y'know?"

"Q-R-O-W I think, my mom wrote it down when I was little." Grizzel whistled softly, leaning his back against the bar. "You heard of him?"

"Kid, there ain't a professional hunter over 30 that doesn't know that name. Now I ain't sure if he's your daddy, but the only Qrow I know is a fella named Qrow Branwen, and that guy is a beast in human's clothing."

"Really?" I asked, digging for more info.

"Yep, he was a member of this really popular team named Team STRQ. If Branwen is your pa, then I reckon that Vacuo is a damn good place to go find him. The guy "works" at Signal back in Vale, but rumor has it he spends more time drifting around the kingdoms. I think he likes the drinks in Vacuo kid, so when you go looking check every seedy dive you can find."

"Thanks Grizzel, I owe you." he waved a hand away.

"No you don't kid, you got it hard enough without juggling a favor to this old empathetic fart." he breathed deeply, toying with the sword at his waist. "Tell you what, I got some leave at Puerto Del Sol, I'll see if I can help you before you roll out, 'k kid?"

I was floored. Never in my life had someone been this kind to me, not one single person even my mom, bless her, kept her distance from me most of the time. I was unwanted, a bastard at heart and I would never amount to anything. But this guy finds a stowaway with a sappy story, but he's still willing to put up with him if it means he can find his dad.

I turned my head away as unshed tears shined in my eyes. Tears that hadn't come forth in so long, tears that I had thought could never again be produced.

They reflected off the ocean's silvery waters...


	26. The Most Dangerous Game

**The Most Dangerous Game:**

 **The world of Remnant is a cruel place where the eyes of the kingdom do not see. And for Jaune, the world has been as cruel as can be to a young man. Left to fight for his live among the rabble and refuse a world around, the young huntsman has distinguished himself as a capable warrior. Despite this, he still wishes to be free, and a chance encounter might just be what he needed.**

0-0-0-0

He could vaguely hear the crowd's cheers from outside his lavish room. The cacophony of myriad voices raised in a primal lust for bloodshed and good old fashioned violence, for today was a very special day.

Today was the day that the newcomers shipped in. Yes, all the fresh meat stolen, captured, bought, and sponsored from around the globe to compete for the amusement of what the boy thought must've been some rich folk. All they ever wanted was more blood, more spectacular battles, more gruesome carnage from their gladiators and they got it in full. Turns out they were willing to pay out the ass to get some fresh cuts in that could challenge the reigning champ.

The blonde boy leaned back in the plush couch and sighed, he was willing to bet his bottom dollar that the tournaments outside the Warzone were a lot more tame. Still, he had a job to do and by god was he going to abide by it. Getting up and putting on his piecemeal leather armor, Jaune Arc stood just outside of the balcony where the freshies were all waiting in a crowd to be addressed by him.

"The Butcher of Sierra Vista..."

"The Knight in Bloody Armor... "

"The four times reigning champ..."

"We give you, Jaune Arc!"

That was his cue, the addressed young man walked out onto the balcony in all his sundried glory. The years in the Warzone had not been kind, and it showed in the grizzled and scarred features visible from the leather pieces. The crowd cheered raucously, stamping their feet and whistling in excitement, meanwhile the fighters down below seemed both amused, confused, angered, and perturbed by the sudden appearance of the so-called "champion".

"Warriors, slaves, fighters, and rebels; please! Lend me your ears!" Jaune started, splaying his arms wide before him. "You were brought here, one way or another, for a singular, glorious purpose: To Fight!"

Another wave of cheers, some even from the gladiators.

"It is to this end, that you must not think of yourselves as men and women, but as tools of bloodshed and entertainment." he continued, only slightly plagiarizing past speeches of his own and of other champions. "The rules are simple: There are no rules. You are expected to get down and dirty, fight tooth and nail, hit below the belt, scratch out eyes, spit, claw, and punch through your enemies."

The crowd below shuffled, looking between eachother like they expected things to devolve into an all-out brawl.

"There is no escape from The Warzone, or at least, there is no escape _alive_. Those who do well in The Pit will be adorned with gold, women, wine, and glory, and those who flounder will find their carcasses thrown into the incinerator. I am the four times champion and running here, and it would be wise that you do not underestimate my age for a lack of experience, I have slain greater foes than you."

Once again the crowd shuffled, some of the gladiators looking agitated by the remarks while others just sneered up in disdain at Jaune.

"Fear not, though, for there is an eternal glory in death here. We fight for a higher purpose, we fight to not only survive but to entertain, we are the bloodied battlers and gladiators of The Warzone, and we are the closest things to gods that Remnant will ever witness!" The crowd cheered at that, the sound almost deafening as it seemed to shake the stone and metal coliseum. "I look forward to killing you all in glorious battle!"

The crowd cheered again as Jaune left to return to his quarters, from his experience they would be carted away for examination, processing, and numbering before they'd be put into the living quarters. Those who were brought here by sponsors may be treated to private rooms, but those here through enslavement or kidnapping would be dumped with the others. An unenviable position from Jaune's experience, yes there was many a night of assassinations and poisonings in that large room.

At least he didn't need to worry about that, he was safe as can be up in his personal penthouse. Being the champion had some perks after all, women on demand, entertainment, training, money, wine, anything he wanted was his.

Except freedom.

Jaune sighed, tapping a finger against his pauldron, the black leather armor around his shoulder and arm connecting to a bandolier across his bare chest. His jeans fitted for comfort, breathability, strength, and flex and a pair of black boots. Swan Song lay sheathed on either side of his waist by a black belt, ridden with pouches of dust crystals and other essentials.

He sat back tiredly, idly wondering what his sponsor would put together for him for the opening act. It was customary for the champion to take first match to show off, get the crowd hyped up, and let the newcomers get a taste of the competition. Then of course came the The Reckoning, where all the competitors would be released to murder eachother until the herd had thinned to an acceptable amount.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in." he said, jutting his chain at the mysterious figure.

In walked a tall man dressed in a red, three-piece striped suit and a black velvet vest. Chili Habenero, his sponsor, smiled that usual shark-like smile and walked over to his favorite champion.

"Jaune, Jaune, Jaune! C'était génial!" he complemented, coming over and kissing each cheek lightly. "My word you should see them all down there! The director thinks this'll be a good batch."

"The old man say what he wanted for the opening act?" Jaune asked, folding his arms over his scarred chest.

"Oh babe you know it!" Chili winked, tapping a mischievous finger to his cheek. "The boys in the bestiary pulled in a major catch last week: A Silverback Beringel! The boys are excited to see you rip it apart."

Jaune sniffed the air and narrowed his eyes, a Silverback Beringel _was_ quite the catch. He'd fought plenty of Grimm in his time so this wasn't too new, as long as the boys upstairs didn't force him to wrestle the thing like last year he'd be in the clear. Gods, how embarrassing would it be for the champion to be ripped apart by the opening act? The Warzone would lose all its credibility.

"Speaking of which!" Chili exclaimed, wagging a finger at his prized gladiator. "Vulcan wants to do some tune-ups on your weapons to make sure they're sharp as a tack before you fight, so please give them to Orabella so she can take them down."

"Alright, but I swear to god if I get word someone was found tampering with them I'll-"

"Sweetie, hun, babe, buddy you know that won't happen again!" Chili assured, smacking Jaune's chest lightly. "We already had Mr. Gilford melted down into a puddle of goo for that, and this time it's going down with Bruno as a guard. Just take a load off, maybe enjoy some TV, I'll send up some girls for you, and I even convinced the kitchens to whip up your favorite for dinner."

Well, that was a silver lining to a tedious day. Far be it from him to deny any of the above, not when there were some many unfortunate souls saddled with less, especially considering he might die tomorrow. But then again, that was life in The Warzone; you fought like the devil himself, and you either killed your enemy or died simple as that, if you killed you foe then who cares, and if you died then you have bigger things to worry about. What was it that Khryses said all the time, "Fight like your about to die and want to be as much of a pain in the ass before then"?

Yeah, Khryses was a good champion, shame Jaune had to gut him. Chili's phone started chirping a cheery tune and the flamboyant sponsor opened it with an elegant flick, listening to some voice chatter on the other end.

"Uh huh, ok, yeah he's ready, yeah he needs to send his weapons down, ok, uh huh, ok bye-bye." Chili flicked the scroll closed and brought Jaune into a warm hug. "Oh I know you'll do great, your match is tomorrow at 4 PM, so until then la nuit est à toi."

And with that Chili left, sashaying out the door and humming a cheery tune. Chili was a rather... interesting man, but he was also about the closest thing to a friend/sibling that Jaune had considering his _actual_ family dumped him here.

Sitting back, Jaune decided to pop open his stash for once and enjoy the night away...

0-0-0-0

Jaune and Chili sat in the penthouse's expansive dining room, eating their breakfast and generally conversing with eachother.

"So, how has the new batch been working out? The troublemakers make themselves known?" Jaune asked, idly playing with his eggs. Chili dabbed his mouth and sighed mournfully.

"Oh les dieux, yes! It's the same as always what with the riff-raff screaming and caterwauling over their treatment. _Why is it fair that he can shoot fireballs out of his hands but I don't even know how to swing a sword?_ Like, sweetie, that's the whole point, The Warzone isn't fair!" Chili took a calming sip of his tea. "Then of course there are the hotshots who think they can just waltz into your room and take you down in no time flat. Silver lining is that I love watching their faces as you crush them!"

"Well then, here's to unfair advantages." I said, grinning slightly as I held up a mug of cocoa. Chili rolled his eyes but daintily held up his cup of tea in a show of solidarity, pinkie extended. "By the way, Chili, you heard anything about that Pyrrha girl?"

"Oh chérie, the girl is nothing but soft I tell you what. I swear, those "tournaments" the Mistrali have look so childish compared to your works of art. A few of the fellas upstairs thought about taking the Pyrrha girl but there are too many eyes on her, it'd be more trouble than it would be worth." Chili shrugged and took a sip of his tea. "Who knows, if we ever get the chance I'd love to see that softie get crushed by my big strong champion."

"Oh Chili, you always know how to flatter a girl." Jaune remarked, grinning and chuckling alongside his sponsor. "Now about this Beringel..."

...

The rest of the afternoon passed by so quickly, with Chili ordering Jaune to get a quick massage before training, and before he knew it the champion was standing in the small, caged-in box that was his "corner" so to speak.

" _In this corner, weighing in a 185 pounds of sheer muscle and skill, you know him, you love him, you fear him! Jaaaaaaauuuuune Arrrrrrc!"_ the announcer exclaimed, gate opening slowly as Jaune walked out to the adoring fans. Following his sponsor's advice, Jaune blew several kisses and started showboating off to the audience, flexing and taunting around the arena. The announcer brought down the mic to the champion for him to say some words of wisdom before the fight.

"To all the newbies out there watching, I'm about to show you just how serious things can get in The Pit. You're not in your momma's home anymore, you're in The Warzone and your ass is grass!" The crowd cheered and the mic retracted back to the announcer.

" _And in this corner, weighing in at 420 pounds of sheer ferocity and carnage, I give you: Ranko!"_ the crowd was a mixture of booing and cheers as the hefty creature tore its way through the steel bars. It beat its chest and roared, only stopping once it caught whiff of its opponent's controlled anger and excitement.

Jaune unsheathed Swan Song, a normal pair of longsword and short sword that he carried in each hand. There were rules against mecha-shifting weapons in The Warzone as they were though to be a cheap way to win fights, however semblances had no such rule and Jaune was built for endurance. The creature slammed its mighty arms into the ground, cracking it and roaring something guttural.

"I take it you're unhappy?" Jaune shouted just loud enough for the crowd to hear. Said crowd laughed at the creature's expense causing the ape to paw at the ground, readying to charge the foolish human.

Ranko roared once more before charging at the blonde man with unnatural speed. Once it got within swinging range, Jaune rolled out of the way narrowly missing the creature's swipe. The Grimm turned to face the human only to find a sword cracking down onto its already scarred mask, Jaune pushed the assault stabbing at the creature's midsection with his short sword. The champion danced back a few steps, taking in his opponent's physique carefully.

Ranko had seen some shit in his lifetime. His chestplate and backplates were scarred, burned, and pockmarked not to mention the fact it seemed to be missing half of its face plate. No wonder the bestiary boys found such fascination with this thing, Ranko probably had been alive for at least a decade and presumably fought more than a few huntsman in his time.

Ranko punched out with an arm as thick as a tree trunk which connected with Jaune's chest. A blow that would've crushed a normal person's rib cage sent Jaune skidding back, planting the short sword into the ground to slow himself down. Jaune rushed the oncoming beringel as the creature raised its arms to crush the champion, but in comparison to some of the warriors he fought the damn thing moved slow. Jaune rolled out of the way and slashed with both his sword right into the exposed flesh of the creature's face.

It screeched in anger and began to punch out wildly, truth be told this would've been a lot harder had there been anything for Ranko to climb on or throw. Jaune continued to dodge the hefty blows, riposting some and catching lucky strikes on the large creature. In a few minutes of heated combat Jaune was no worse for wear, but the Beringel on the other hand was covered in cuts and gouges.

 _Time to end this_ Jaune thought to himself, calling upon his aura and activating his semblance. He charged straight at the creature which in turn roared and attempted to punch through his chest like wet paper. Ranko brought down a large fist at the human only to find it blocked by the man's swords, aura glowing white Jaune activated his buff and almost effortlessly threw the creature off him.

The Grimm landed on its back with an impressive _Thud!_ and groaned. Jaune rushed up to the monster before it could regain its balance and, with the force exceeding the Grimm, smashed his sword into the head of the old monster. Ranko didn't even have time to give one last roar before his head was crushed into a black paste that slowly dribbled across the coliseum floor.

The crowds roared in excitement, reveling the bloodshed and the skill of their champion, even as the walls shook from the sound. Jaune could guess that a few of the newcomers were probably shitting themselves at the prospect of having to fight the champion, but if they made it that far Jaune guessed they will have regained at least some of their nerve.

The crowds chanted Jaune's name, creating almost a rhythmic pulse that reminded Jaune of a disturbed heartbeat. The champion waved to the chanting masses and returned to his "corner" where the door opened to reveal his sponsor. Chili clapped his hands and invited Jaune inside where he was taken to a large dining room that he had frequented in his time as the champion.

"Good to see you Mr. Jaune." The Director, an aged greying man in a matching grey suit, said extending a hand which Jaune took. "What a spectacular show out there, a few of my associates wanted a longer fight, but personally I believe it just goes to show what they're up against."

"Thank you Director." Jaune said, bowing slightly.

"Oh hush you sweetheart, no need to be modest." Chili swept in behind the champion, playfully smacking a hand against his armor. "The crowds are loving it, a lot of them are fired up for The Reckoning now that they've seen you in action again."

"I bet." hummed Jaune noncommittally.

"Well then I believe this has earned a celebration, I say we break out the Vintage White and have fun." Chili started before something rocked the room they were standing in. There was a moment of silence before The Director tersely flicked open his scroll and punched in a number.

"I see, and the guards...? How many...? Which huntsmen...? Oh, I see..." The Director flicked the scroll closed and stood in silence for a moment. "The Warzone has been breached, apparently Mistral got wind of us somehow and have sent their finest here."

"How bad is it?" Chili asked, completely serious and pulling out a modified pistol.

"They've sent Qrow Brandwen and Taiyang Xiao-Long." There was a beat of silence and Chili breathed deeply before sighing.

"Ok, that's bad. So then, what is our out?" Chili asked, The Director adjusted his tie for a moment.

"We have the secret bullhead docks for the VIPS, and of course I have my own. Chili, you'll come with me and we'll escape. Jaune, I want you to buy us time to get out of here." The Director order to which Jaune nodded resolutely.

"Yes sir." The champion said, unsheathing his swords once again. Chili seemed a tad apprehensive as The Director lead off into a secret passageway that had opened with a touch of a button.

"Jaune sweetheart it's nothing personal, but I can't be caught I-"

"Relax Chili, I get it. Good luck." Jaune said, eyes crinkling in a tired smile.

"Good luck big guy and- oh! Here, take this. It's a little something I left for you just in case." Chili said giving him a small folded note before following The Director, only stopping to blow a kiss.

Jaune unfolded the note to reveal what appeared to be a wing of the complex, a room number, and a code. _A way out_ Jaune thought, good to know someone was still looking out for him. As of right now, the security and willing participants of The Warzone should be providing some fierce resistance to the invaders but that was subject to change once the important guys got out.

Taiyang and Qrow were new names to him, but The Director wasn't the type of man to be worried by the average huntsman. Still though, as champion he had a job to repel the invaders first, and get out second.

Jaune rushed down the stairs, rallying a few security staff behind him as they went to engage the enemy head on. They found the breach in the main room for the guests which had devolved into a warzone ironically. Jaune could pick out a dozen or more huntsman fighting head on with gladiators and security while Mistrali Marines attempted to subdue the rest. Out of all of them, there were no definite signs of the two huntsman that got The Director so worried, but that wasn't necessarily good news.

"Flank around guys, I face down the troublemakers." Jaune ordered, jumping down into the fray. Between the security unleashing a bullet hell and the Mistrali Marines doing much of the same, Jaune could see some of the huntsman and huntresses punching holes in the defense.

Without hesitation Jaune leapt for the closest one, a brunette woman with an axe, and swung down upon her. She narrowly blocked it at the last moment but left herself open to a gunshot from one of the security. The woman was thrown off balance which Jaune used slash across her abdomen, sparks of her bronze aura going everywhere and sending her into the ruined mess of a table.

Trusting the others to take care of her, Jaune moved on to the next hunter. However, this time they had witnessed the altercation and the man, with his shotgun halberd, seemed less inclined to go down easy than his friend. The two locked blades for a moment, just staring eachother down, before they broke the lock and began to swing at eachother.

 _This one is good_ thought Jaune parrying a gunshot from the shotgun while stabbing with his short sword. The huntsman danced back, firing a scattering of pellets at the champion. Jaune rolled for cover underneath an overturned table, narrowly missing being turned into peppered steak, and kicked said table straight at the huntsman. The man cleaved the broken structure in half only to find Jaune waiting for him on the other side.

The two once again locked blades, the battle around them growing intense as reinforcements arrived for the defenders.

"Bastard huntsman, think you can invade The Warzone?" Jaune growled, pressing down on the man.

"Bloody murderer, I'll split yer head open." The huntsman growled back in a thick accent.

Jaune activated his semblance momentarily, slamming the older warrior into the ground with ease. The man grunted as he was crushed against tile and cement, and Jaune, keeping the man down with his longsword, raised his short sword and prepared to deliver the final blow. The man glared defiantly at his attacker and Jaune growled as he slammed the blade down into the man's neck.

Or would have had it not been for the shot that collided with his back. Jaune gripped the floor with enough force to crack it and stopped, looking at this new assailant of his. He was tall and blonde not unlike the champion himself, but his gait and focused expression spoke of a lifetime of experience, on his hands were a pair of gauntlets that seemed modified to fire bullets.

"Taiyang, where the hell were you." the downed huntsman coughed. "Be careful, this one ain't like the rest I think he's the champ. He took down Starla with ease, and he's stronger than he looks."

"Come off it Russet, stop acting like a fish on land." Taiyang said, grinning cockily at the now-named Russet who groaned something back about blonde bastards. "As for you young man, I'd had to snap you like a twig what with being a fellow blonde and all."

The grin turned wicked.

"So give up, and I'll only break your arms."

Jaune had faced down guys like this before, and he hadn't been afraid then. "Come on old man, I'll rip your head off and wear it around my neck."

Taiyang launched himself at a speed impressive even for a huntsman aided by his gauntlets. Jaune barely had time to block the older man's punch which chipped the steel of his blades. Even then the force didn't stop and Jaune could swear he felt a hairline fracture in his arm as the grizzled huntsman pressed down and fired his weapon, at the close range Jaune couldn't avoid the buckshot that peppered across his aura.

"Fuck!" Jaune swore, creating an "X" slash and forcing the man back. The champion activated his semblance and felt some of the damage heal and his muscles pulse with strength. "You wanna dance old man? Well fine!"

Jaune shot off like a bullet into the old hunter and began swinging like a madman. Taiyang kept up with practiced ease, even if the force did exceed what he thought this kid was capable of. Eventually, Taiyang parried one of Jaune's more reckless swings and punched the younger champion right in the temple sending shocks of black and white through his vision.

There was a click of a bullet.

And then dark...

0-0-0-0

Jaune woke up slowly, fading in and out more than anything. There were voices, sounds, and what might've been fighting if he had been anymore lucid. His limited vision was swathed with white light, but he could vaguely make out muddled blobs surrounding him. His head hurt, his body felt heavy, and even in this half-alive state he could feel his aura missing.

"...He could... something..."

"Dammit... did you... him...!"

"...-at...? He tried... alive..."

"Guuh." Jaune groaned, trying to at least insult them.

"Look... Beauty... Up..."

"Urk, you fuck..." Jaune ground out, lifting his head which sent such an intense migraine that his forced him back into unconsciousness.

Sometime later Jaune _actually_ woke up, the light around him not as painful and his aura slowly piecing itself together. He was cuffed to some kind of mixture between a bench and a chair and had a flimsy blanket over him.

"What the..." Jaune asked blearily, yanking at the tough steel.

"I wouldn't do that young man." Came a scholarly voice from his side. Whipping to the side in a frenzy Jaune caught a look of the man before his headache came back in full force. "I wouldn't do _that_ either."

"What the fuck is going on?!" Jaune growled, palming his head in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

"What indeed, you see young man we brought you here to answer some questions. We discovered you were the champion of this "Warzone" as it had been named, and the powers that be have plenty of things they want to know." The greying man said, a small lion's tail hanging near the ground. "Barring that though, I wish to offer you a wonderful opportunity."

"Yeah? And what's that?" Jaune asked, half out of annoyance and half out of curiosity.

"I want you in my school." The old man said, smiling a grandfatherly smile.

"Why?" Jaune asked, too tired to be surprised.

"I somewhat abhor wasting such potential, especially when we could use all the help we could get in fighting the Grimm. Furthermore, recovered video tapes saw you killing plenty of Grimm in your time."

"Aren't I a criminal or something?" truthfully, Jaune never considered what would happen if The Warzone ever went down. He just assumed that if it did he'd die fighting in it like his predecessors.

"That is up to you young man, the way I see it is that you were simply a captured man bred to fight in that place. Through not fault of your own you killed your way to the top and stayed there. We couldn't find anything on you specifically, but what we did fine about your career as the champion made things worthwhile enough for me to notice." the man breathed a sigh.

"Truth be told, we were trying to find that place for years. Every time we got close they switched operations, but now we have cut out the disease from our kingdom, and we just need some help finding the stragglers. I want you to help us, in return you will be cleared of any charges and allowed to study at my academy."

"And you are?" Jaune asked, mentally writing down the pros and cons of the situation.

The grey haired man smiled. "I am Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart of Haven Academy..."


	27. Dust to Dust

**Dust to Dust:**

 **Jaune was taken from his family as a young man due to his unique genome. Captured by unseen people, he was turned into a test subject for Project Oppenheimer. He's finally escaped the facility, but now he must recover his past and the means by which to save himself from the people who relentlessly hunt him.**

0-0-0-0

It was dark.

Like always I supposed.

I felt my battered conscious stir, and to my displeasure, the aches and pains the permeated my body stirred awake along with it. There were voices, muffled by the heavy steel walls of my little "life pod" as the scientists called it. It was my home, the real one being gone from my mind for what might've been years? Months? I don't know, I could've arrived here yesterday for all I knew.

When all you get to do is sleep and look at steel walls and talk to scientists, the mind tends to run on autopilot for too long. The voices came closer, and I heard the muffled chirping of some command console outside. There was a hiss of steam and the steel wall that faced me began to slide away, revealing one way, bulletproof glass that only let me look at my own reflection.

I was young, so I hadn't been here too long. Blonde hair, blue eyes, so I could've looked a little worse I suppose. My skin could use a little color, probably from the lack of actual sun for so long. My fine tuned ears finally caught some conversation from the outside now that the heavy steel door was out of the way.

" _-My god man! You've kept him here how long?"_ asked an outraged voice from the other side.

 _"Precisely as I said Joseph, this subject was the perfect candidate for Project Oppenheimer. Think of the sheer magnitude of what this project could unleash!"_ came a familiar, refined voice from the other side.

 _"All I see is a dangerous superweapon Arthur!"_ the name was said punctuated with disgust. _"Not to mention the basic human rights we've violated!"_

 _"Sacrifices must be made for the greater good, you of all people should know that."_ an aged voice quipped to my side.

 _"Silence Merlot! Do not think I haven't heard of your dealings with these so-called "modification" of yours!"_ the first voice replied, snapping in anger.

 _"And do not be so presumptuous to think I do not know of you and your daughter, Joseph!"_ the aged voice spat in disgust.

 _"You leave her out of this, she is just a child like he is! What you have done will never be-"_

 _"Dr. Polendina, please, if you do not wish to continue this project then you are free to leave and tinker with your toys."_ the refined one (Arthur maybe?) answered smugly.

Dr. Polendina growled. _"This isn't over, just you wait when Ironwood gets word of this he'll-"_

 _"Ironwood knows, Joseph. He greenlit this project."_ Arthur interrupted, smug satisfaction oozing out of every word.

 _"Wha-? No! James would never advocate for this! You're lying Arthur!"_ Polendina said in disbelief.

 _"Ask him yourself now that you seem to have so much free time, Merlot and I have work to do. Guards, escort Polendina out of the facility."_ there was the sound of a small scuffle as I imagined Dr. Polendina did not take too kindly to being removed.

" _Get-! Get your bloody hands off me! I will report you to the General! I- Subject 7! I will return for you, so stay strong!"_ Polendina shouted, voice carrying off into the distance.

Subject 7? Three guesses as to who that was. He'd be back? To what? Get me out of here? As nice as that sounded I wasn't sure how well I'd be adjusted to life outside of this little pod. What with being trapped in it for so long.

 _"Apologies Subject 7, Do not worry, today's tests will commence without err."_ Arthur answered, tapping lightly on the glass window.

I felt machine humming above me and braced myself. The interior of the pod was swathed with lights in red, blue, green, yellow, white, every color of the rainbow danced around me like some disco-tech from hell.

Then the pain started.

Like always, it exploded out through my heart. Currents of pain curling and speeding down and around my body in precise rivers, almost as if they were tracing a pattern around me. Then, of course, the _actual_ agony started as- well, it was hard to describe in words. But the closest I ever got to articulating it -now there's a word for you- was "imagine being stabbed from inside out by an army of small gremlins".

It felt like jagged glass was being pushed through my skin. The pod inside desperately feeding my artificial aura boosters, nutrients, and the occassional painkiller to prevent me from going into shock. Crystals, beautiful, luminescent crystals erupted from across my bare body reflecting the colors inside the pod. White crystals and blue crystals and green crystals, all the colors on the spectrum turning me into a tormented chandelier.

The crystals began to glow in the neon lights, each one their respective color, before their were sudden discharges of energy. Blasts of fire that warmed my skin, currents of lightning that made me shiver, and torrents of ice and water that sprayed the pod's walls. Slowly, the machinery from above quieted their hum and the lights began to dim, the agony of the crystals across my body lessened as they retreated back into my skin.

I mean, I assumed they did? Or maybe I just created them? I don't know, I'm just guinea pig here. There was a soft clapping from the other side which was accented by a victorious chuckle.

"Impressive Subject 7! Most impressive. You are maturing at an exponential pace, even breaking our highest projections. You have made me so proud, you know that?" Arthur praised, like always, before the steel shield began to return locking me in darkness.

That was my life in a nutshell. Wake, tests, sleeps, wake, tests, tests, sleep, wake so on and so forth. The pod must've kept me hydrated and nourished somehow, or else I assumed I'd just be dead. You know, I'm not really all that smart of guy but for a man in my situation I feel like I'm pretty observant.

Well, I had a rough day today so I think it was time to take a nap...

0-0-0-0

You know how I said I wasn't all that smart of a guy? Yeah, well, even _I_ could figure out something wasn't quite right when I woke up. Barring the screaming and general sounds of mayhem around me, I heard the distinguished Watts swearing as he raced around my steel pod.

His words were mumblings to me, but I could at least hear the urgency in his voice. And with it, the sounds of destruction were closing in on us. A thundering explosion shook the pod and rattled my internal organs which promptly signified I was most likely fucked. There was a flurry of gunshots from what might've been 100 feet, or three inches in front me depending, but what caught my attention was another sound.

Roaring.

Like a sort've, bestial roar? Wasn't there something about that I should know? It was something important, was it a guy? No, closer but not quite. An animal then, but that didn't feel right either. I heard Arthur growl a single muffled word that sounded like "Gim".

Right, right. That was it, these "Gim" fellas were nasty business if I remembered correctly. Who knows, maybe Dr. Polendina hired them to help me get out of here, but then again they didn't sound too friendly. There was crackling inside the pod and for a moment I wondered if we were going to do another test, but something about this whole situation didn't exactly scream "scientific discovery."

 _"Subject 7? Are you awake?! I'm sorry, but your vitals are holding steady for now. That fool Merlot has ruined everything for me, for us! I am so sorry my subject, I am so sorry to have failed you. But remember, you are my pride and joy! I am going to have to put you under for a little bit, but don't be scared I am coming back for you! Trust me, trust the doctor!"_

"Ugh, doc?" I wheezed out, too unused to using my voice ironically.

It didn't matter all that much anyway, the pod was flooded with a white gas that made me really tired and really cold. Everything was going dark, it was all slowing down even the sounds of battle seemed so distant.

I was drifting away...

I was...

I...

0-0-0-0

 _Power surge detected_

 _Life pod coolant malfunction_

 _Vital signs are optimal_

 _Releasing occupant_

 _In_

 _3..._

 _2..._

1...

My first breath was not a pleasant one. I gasped like a dying fish and promptly coughed my lungs out when it proved a little too much for me to bare. Is it possible to feel like your lungs have passed their sell-by date? Because mine did. Anyways, with me sucking down air like an asthmatic I barely even noticed the steel door to my pod had released itself.

The _actual_ steel door, not just the one that blocked me from the outside. It hissed and whined with a metal groan as it pulled itself to the side, and for once in my life I was dumbfounded.

I was free.

I could leave.

This was it!

I took my first step into my new life.

And promptly folded like a bad hand. I hit the ice cold metal floor with a thud and a groan, turns out I wasn't used to working my legs too much anyhow. I gasped and struggled to rise on my shaky knees but it was no use. Instead, I opted to crawl around on all fours for the time being, as I tried not to think how pathetic I looked naked, cold, and crawling around.

It was dark thankfully. But not too dark that I couldn't see anything. I was in a lab, I think considering I had never actually _seen_ one, but the scientists always called it a lab so why not? Not like anyone was around to refute me. I crawled around the floor, looking for anything to help me until I found what appeared to be a small metal box with a handle on it.

There was a clasp which I opened to reveal its contents. Inside was a flare gun with a single flare, a pair of boxer shorts, and some kind of unfolding crutch? Crutches? Whatever I'd take them. I got dressed in what I could and shoved the flare gun into the waistband of my shorts lone ranger style, before awkwardly standing up on the pair of crutches.

The metal walking sticks clicked against the cold floor as I made my way down the battle scarred hall. This place was a goddamn mess, the janitor should be fired for leaving this place in such a state of disrepair. Claws marks, gunshots, bullet casings, blood stains, debris there was stuff everywhere! Sloppy, and unprofessional.

I continued walking down the hallway until I came into a larger room. In it, I saw a single blinking button that I walked up to and pushed with a white hand. The button blinked once more before suddenly I was face-to-face with a large holographic screen.

A man's face took up almost the entirety of it. He was perhaps middle aged, with a bushy mustache and a grey overcoat. It must've been a pre recording as I could hear the faint sounds of fighting behind him.

 _"Subject 7, if you are viewing this then you are alive, and I thank my lady for that. Dr. Merlot let his experiments run wild and it destroyed our base here in Mountain Glenn, you are in Vale right now Subject 7. I'm sorry, but I couldn't extract you at the time so I had to put you in cryo freeze to keep you alive. I-I do not know how long you've been frozen by the time you wake up. But, if this recording is still working then the transmitter must've sent out the distress signal. Stay where you are, a bullhead -a flying machine- should be there soon. Stay safe, and do not venture out on your own. This is Arthur Watts, signing off."_

The program blinked out. I felt a little nettled at the fact he felt the need to define what a bullhead is despite the fact it was common knowledge, but, on the other hand, I really had not clue _how_ or _why_ I knew what a bullhead was, just like how I was unsure how I was able to speak properly. Hell, sometimes it just felt like a mixing pot of emotions and memories and background information stirring around in my head. So, I just choose to go with it. If it ain't broke don't fix it right?

So, I guess my next move was to wait here. Alone. And cold. And, kinda hungry now that I thought about it. Maybe there was a kitchen around here somewhere.

Several hours of searching led me to believe that no one in this goddamn facility had the capacity to eat anything. The plus side is that my legs were running a little better now, I was no track star but I could at least move to only one crutch now.

"Keep it tight boys, we got the distress signal from in here." echoed a voice from one of the hallways leading to this main... room?

"Hi guys!" I shouted, voice amplifying the sound and causing it to echo around.

"For fuck sak-! Keep your voice down!" came another, female sounding, voice from down the same hallway.

"Ugh, sorry?" I said, voice still echoing down the hallway.

"Just shut up, and wait there!" came the first voice, now much closer.

It was only a few more moments before a team of four people entered. 1 girl and three guys, all of which were geared with weapons and armor that seemed a little tacky in my opinion. I mean come on, who really needs a shotgun crossbow that big?

"So, ugh, hi there. Welcome to my home?" I said, shrugging a shoulder.

"Alright man, we got your distress call we've come to get you out of here." The leader, I assumed, said putting a hand on my shoulder. He was a tall, brunette man with a large scar down his cheek. It looked pretty damn cool.

"Your scar looks cool dude." I said, pointing at it.

Scar-man seemed to consider saying something but just settled for a look of confusion and disbelief before shoving me along down the hallway. It felt like ages following these guys around before, finally, we got some sort of loading dock? A hanger maybe? Either way there was a large bullhead waiting there which I was shuffled inside.

As we sat down the scar-man looked at me strangely. He seemed to want to say something but it was like he didn't quite have the words for it, eventually his female friend patted his arm and turned to me.

"You wanna explain why you were so deep in Mountain Glenn kid? And, ugh, why your kinda naked?" she asked, shooting me an inquisitive look.

"Oh, yeah, funny story really. I had been trapped there for a super long time as a test subject, Subject 7 I was called, before, I don't know, someone dropped the ball or something and the whole thing came crashing down. But, anyway, I got frozen to prevent me from dying and I just now woke up. I pressed this cool little button thing which played some weird message before telling me you guys were on the way."

All four of the occupants stared at my with deadpan expressions.

"Oh yeah, and I can manipulate dust particles as well. Wanna see?" I grunted and strained as the familiar stinging feeling came back. Remember the small army of Gremlins? Yeah well, it took a bit but before long my arm was covered in tiny spires of red, blue, and yellow.

The other occupants didn't quite take it so well, with scar-man leader-guy pulling out a scroll and calling someone.

"Ugh, _Ozp-_ ahem, Ozpin," he said, voice cracking for a moment. "We, ugh, got a really big situation..."


	28. The Case of Jaune Dexter Arc

**I know I've been posting on this fic a lot recently, but that's only because I'm kinda unmotivated to work on my other fics. Sorry for that, but at least you get some fics here. To sweeten the deal, I want you lovely buddies to throw me an idea in the reviews and I'll take the three I like best a make a 4,000+ word chapter just for them. Credit to the person who throws in the idea too!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe!**

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 **The Case of Jaune Dexter Arc:**

 **Highschool AU. Vale is a strange town, full of strange people and dark secrets for those foolish enough to go looking, and Beacon Academy is no exception. Take Jaune Arc, mediocre student and overall underdog with little going for him, who finds himself a simple, silver locket on a field trip. It is a beautiful locket, from it's ornate engravings to the way it whispers to him, Jaune finds it harder and harder to separate with simple piece of jewelry.**

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Vale is a small town, but that doesn't truly justify it. Vale is a town like no other, it is a place of strange folk and of strange secrets where many unsolved cases end up. Disappearances in broad daylight, inhuman sounds from the woods, the enigmatic principal of the local high school, and that odd little group in the wooded outskirts of town, Vale is a strange place indeed. The people are as varied and odd as the town, with so many hosting strange characteristics, abilities, personalities, and motivations for what they do.

Vale is secluded, and entirely self-dependent. It has both an elementary school, a middle school, a high school, a university, a hospital, a police station, local government buildings, cinemas, gas stations, grocery stores, the works. Many of the denizens are born, raised, and killed entirely in the town, never venturing into the outside world, but the townsfolk don't seem to mind.

However, this curious case does not follow any of the odd happenings before now, instead it focuses on the plight of a young man by the name of Jaune Dexter Arc. The middle child of 8, he and seven sisters, and a student enrolled at Beacon Academy, the local high school. Jaune is a young man thrust into a cruel and savage environment, being a weak, socially-inept teenager he is preyed upon by everyone at school. Constantly he is forced to work for others, belittled, and generally despised by those more well off. He works at the local grocery store on the weekends where he is given some semblance of peace.

But something lurks deep within the forest, something that hungers for an owner. It calls to him, even now, and when Jaune answers that call he sets off a series of events that will irrevocably change the climate of the small town forever. But for now, he is still the simple, awkward, pitiful teenager...

"Hiya there Jaune-y boy!" sneered one Cardin Winchester, son to the town mayor. "Me and the boys were so busy with practice last night, we forgot to do our homework. Be a pal and do it for us, eh Jaune-y boy?"

"I'm busy tonight Cardin, I gotta take care of my sisters." Jaune murmured, taking things from his locker. Cardin's sneer turned into a scowl, which eventually evolved into a snarl.

"Listen here you little fuck, if you think-" the bully started, reaching a fist to clasp around the young man's arm only for it to be suddenly assaulted by a hand with the grip strength that could crush steel.

"What did I say about bothering my best buddy?" Nora Valkyrie asked sweetly, increasing the grip on the ginger's man's wrist. Cardin tried to howl out but it choked half way through as he was forced to his knees.

"F-Fine Valkyrie! I'll let him go, just get off!" Nora nodded with a cheerful smile and let go, sending the bully scurrying off into the distance.

"I appreciate it Nora, but you know I gotta fight my own battles right?" Jaune asked, sighing a little tiredly but smiling nonetheless.

"Oh fearless leader, you know Ren and I will always have your back! We made a promise to be best-best-besties forever and ever!" Nora crooned, throwing the blonde young man into a headlock hug.

"Gah-! Nora, I'm not the leader of anything you know!" Jaune choked out, smiling frantically as the ginger girl nearly hung off of him.

"You're the leader of Nora's bestest friend club! Plus, didn't your dad say he wanted to take you out to his boxing place for fighting lessons?" Nora asked cheerily, swinging around her childhood friend.

"Yeah, my old man doesn't like the fact I get beat up about twice a week. He likes it even less when it's from a girl." Jaune laughed a little sullenly. "I've been trying, but I hit like a wet pasta noodle."

Nora bit her lip for a moment before shaking her head and hugging Jaune even tighter. "Ooh! I know! I should put you on my workout plan!"

"Nora, that would kill anyone other than you. And maybe Yang." Lie Ren said, breaking the two up and becoming Nora's new hug-buddy.

"Ren, good to see you." Jaune said, patting his green friend's shoulder.

"Good to see _you_ in one _piece_ Jaune. I saw Cardin giving you a hard time, let me know if Nora and I need to straighten anyone out." Ren said stoically, but his eyes made his loyalty to his longtime friend clear.

The three teens had been raised together, practically in the same family. Nora and Ren shared a house with their respective families (strange town, remember?) while Jaune lived next door. The three grew up as best pals with Nora being the staunch protector, Ren being the mediator, and Jaune being the crafty mind to formulate all their childhood schemes.

"Oh yeah! Guys! Did you hear, Oobleck is giving us something big today! Ooh, I can't wait!" Nora jittered, bouncing up and down.

"I think I heard something about that, do you want to-" Jaune didn't finish as Nora hooked both her friends by the collar and shot off towards the professor's classroom.

 **30 minutes later...**

"-As you may have heard students, I am handing out something very important today!" The doctor proclaimed, jetting around the class at mach speed. "We have been given the historic opportunity to investigate the nearly untouched ruins in the Emerald Forest! These ruins have recently been discovered away from the currently discovered ones, and have been deemed safe for investigation."

The class both silently booed and approved of the announcement, some wishing to avoid any extra work.

"These ruins are the remnants of an unknown civilization, and the fact this class has the perfect opportunity to study them up close is amazing." he sipped his coffee excitedly. "Of course, this field trip is not mandatory but it should be noted that it counts as 50 points extra credit for showing up and doing your work, and those who do not go will have study hall with Professor Goodwitch."

There was a shudder that went through the class, everyone knew Goodwitch for her iron-clad teaching methods and unwavering discipline that put even Mr. Ironwood to shame.

"Man this is gonna be so cool!" Nora whispered, wiggling in her seat. "Think of all the cool stuff in there. Oh my gosh, what if there's a secret wizard in there!?"

"Nora, I don't think wizards exist." Ren said slowly, flipping through a book about zen.

"Well then, what about that guy who burst into flames on Christmas eve?" Nora challenged.

"Nora, you know we can't talk about that." Ren said evenly, not even slowing down his reading pace.

"Honestly though, this does sound kinda cool. And seriously, 50 points extra credit just for showing up and writing some stuff down, count me in!" Jaune said, clapping a hand against his friend's shoulder.

"You raise a good point Jaune, I suppose I'll join in too."

"-And that dear students, is all you need to know for today's lesson. I would like to remind you all that the field trip is tomorrow, so get those permission slips signed and I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning!" Oobleck encouraged. "Now, off to lunch with you!"

The class shuffled out, students talking to eachother about the trip. The three friends zoomed off towards the cafeteria to beat the lunch rush, all the while talking about what they would find in the ruins. After sitting down at their usual table, the rest of the students scuttled in quickly and soon the lunch room became a bustling network of teen gossip and power plays.

The popular kids and the jocks made their jabs at the other factions, trying to cement their superiority. The two leading forces being Cardin due to his status as the mayor's son, and Cinder Fall who did... something...? Many kids just gossiped that her family was some kind of crime syndicate, made all the more credible due to the fact Cinder acted like a Mafia princess.

And then, speak of the devil, the raven-haired woman herself strut in, sending her two lackeys, Melanie and Militia, off to grab her some food. Behind the powerful and beautiful woman stalked the grey-haired Mercury Black and green-haired Emerald Sustrai. That walking maelstrom of gossip and power sat at their usual table, scanning the crowd for the usual suspects.

Then of course, with the customary bang of the doors, came in what people dubbed "RWBY". They consisted of the younger Ruby Rose, her cousin Yang, the prominent Jacques Schnee's daughter Weiss, and the enigmatic Blake. _That_ group was known for their wild schemes and general mayhem they created over their time at the school, they were seen as the only threat to Cinder's dominance to no small disdain of the terrifying woman herself.

"Jaune, you're getting that _I'm analyzing them like the super nerd I am_ look again." Nora observed, poking the blonde boy in the face. "You gotta stop worrying about this stuff you silly-head, you'll drive yourself to the grave with it."

"I am not a super nerd Nora, I am observant." Jaune adamantly denied.

"Suuuure. Oh hey! Look super nerd! A new challenger approaches!" said challenger was Pyrrha Nikos, star of just about everything Beacon could offer. Swimming, running, basketball, and she was pretty damn good with the new boxing circuit although Yang mostly held queen of that title.

Pyrrha sat with RWBY like always as conversation picked up. Suddenly, and worryingly, Cinder jerked a chin in Jaune's direction sending Mercury, her hired thug as most people thought of him, over to the three who tried to ignore his approach.

Mercury passed Ren and Nora to end up behind Jaune who tried to ignore him. Mercury waited a moment before clearing his throat to garner some attention, and when he did Nora preemptively shifted in her seat.

"What Mercury?" Jaune asked, opting to not look at him.

"Cinder needs you to do that assignment from Port's, you're pretty much the only one in that class that gets it." he said bluntly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Tell her I'm busy tonight, get some other sucker to do it." Jaune said bitterly, having grown tired to being everyone else's pack mule for work.

Mercury sighed and laid a single hand on his shoulder. "Cinder can make your life very hard Jaune, I don't think you deserve that. Please, just do the damn assignment."

"Hey Merc, got cotton in your ears? He said get lost." Nora growled, held back by Ren.

"Tch, fine. But don't come crying to me when your life goes to shit afterwards." Mercury growled back, returning to his mistress empty handed.

"Do you think that was wise?" Ren asked, concerned. "I appreciate you standing up for yourself, but I don't need you getting hurt."

"Eh, I'll be fine." Jaune said, returning to his food.

"Hey Jaune! Good stuff man!" Yang shouted from across the way which Jaune decided to ignore. "H-Hey, come on man notice me!"

Jaune heard Ruby chastise her cousin for her comments. Jaune could say he kinda liked Ruby, small, sweet, and nice to just about everyone, but they weren't what could be considered friends, they truly only knew of eachother by word of mouth. Like how Goodwitch was known for her cold demeanor, Jaune had a rep for being the underdog of the school. In freshman and sophomore year, he was a chew toy for the other kids.

Of course, he'd grown something of a backbone since then. But, high school never lets you truly live down the reputation you garner. Ruby was known for being sort've like a puppy, small and cute and so innocent you could never be made at her. Different, but kindred souls as they say.

Idly, Ren caught Pyrrha looking between both his good pal Jaune and Mercury strangely. A rumor had been going around that the "champion" had the hots for the poor guy, some even going so far as to say she had some weird dom-sub kink fetish. Ren felt a little bad at the thought of a nice girl like Pyrrha being subjected to a rumor like _that_ , but it'd be a cold day in hell before he let his brother get his heart trampled into the ground. Sighing, Ren idly wished that the world could be a little more like him: stoic, calm, nonchalant, and accepting.

Wishful thinking.

The day passed pretty quickly after that, classes going by in a blur as most of it was buried beneath the field trip tomorrow. Finally, the bell tolled and the kids left for home and away from the damning institution. Jaune waved goodbye to Ren and Nora and declined their offer to catch a ride in Ren's truck, instead deciding to walk home and enjoy the fall scenery.

About halfway home that proved to be a bad idea when he was jump by a gang of Cinder's henchmen no doubt and beaten to the floor. They didn't steal anything, but they _did_ kick the crap out of the poor blonde boy for daring to defy the almighty word of Cinder. He found that wording kind of funny until another fist sent his head into the ground.

"Jaune-y boy, you know I didn't want to do this." Mercury said, strutting out from a ditch and picking at his nails. "So, me being the great guy I am, decided to bring Cinder's little assignment so she doesn't feel the need to do this again."

He tossed the packet down onto the beaten boy before whistling for his gang of thugs to walk away. Jaune sighed, the pain subsiding slightly, before he picked himself back up and headed home. It was possibly the longest 15 minutes of his life before he shuffled through the door and into the family living room, his mom was on the couch with his sister doing homework on the kitchen table.

His mom looked up for a moment before sighing and going to check on her son.

"Who was it? Cardin?" she asked, licking her thumb and scrubbing off some dirt.

"Mercury." he responded simply. A few years ago this would be met with a storm of phone calls, but now it was just regarded as fact.

"Well, let me get some ice wait here. You know your father is coming to take you to train right?" she asked, stalking into the kitchen.

"I know." he called after her.

"Pfft, geez Jaune even _I_ can fight better than you and I'm in the 7th grade." Mindy, his younger sister, jeered from her work.

"Hey Mindy, shut the hell up." Jaune responded back which caused her to gasp.

"Moooom! Jaune told me to shut the hell up!" she whined.

"Jaune, don't swear at your sister." his mother responded lazily, returning with an ice pack and pushing it onto his head. "Go do some work babe, I'll make you a smoothie or something."

"By the way mom, can you sign this permission slip. It's for Oobleck's field trip into the ruins tomorrow." Jaune asked, taking the ice pack.

"Oh sure, gosh I remember when _I_ did that. Hard to believe that old doctor is still teaching, and the fact he looks younger than me." Jaune's mom said, the end turning into a slight question before she shook her head of it. "Whatever, go do some work your dad'll be home in about an hour."

An hour later, and Cinder's stupid homework done, Jaune's dad finally got home. He threw off his tie and changed into his workout gear before standing proudly in the kitchen.

"Jaune! Get your ass down here we're going boxing!" he bellowed, punching a fist into his chest with a hearty laugh. One would expect Nicholas Arc to be an average looking man, but they could not be further from the truth.

Nicholas Arc was a mountain of man, standing well over 2 meters and packed to the brim with mighty muscle. The man co-ran a boxing gym with Yang's father, Taiyang, when he wasn't working as an accountant. Jaune trudged downstairs in his workout gear, black eye standing out against some slightly healed bruises, and walked towards his dad.

"Alright dad, I'm here let's get going." Jaune said, a tad unenthusiastically.

"My god boy, what the hell happened to you? Was it that little shit Cardin again!?" His father growled, standing well over his son. "Why I'll have the ginger fuck's intestines for a belt!"

"No dad, it was Mercury this time."

"Grrr, fucking silver-haired prick." Nicholas swore, folding massive tree trunk arms over eachother. "Forget about that kiddo, your old man is gonna teach you how to beat ass!"

The towering giant swept up his son and flew from the house in a rush. Jaune held onto the car's emergency handle as the old mustang whirled around town, garnering honks and beeps, before the metal death trap finally screeched to a stop outside a rustic gym. Inside, the place was a fairly modern boxing gym with a large ring in the center, punching bags, weights, and a locker room.

In said ring, Yang was mercilessly beating on her old man who took it all with practiced ease.

"Come on Yang watch your footing!" Taiyang Xiao Long ordered, analyzing his daughter's footsteps. "I could've just bowled you over right there!"

"Then why don't you old man!?" Yang grunted, a fierce smirk on her face. Said smirk dissipated when her "old man" did indeed knock her flat on her ass with nothing more than a well-placed foot.

Taiyang laughed and helped her up, only then noticing the two newcomers. The grizzled blonde leaped over the ring's rope to land in front of Jaune's dad, who still towered over him, but if Taiyang noticed it he didn't comment.

"Nick, how the hell are you? Come to teach the boy how'ta fight?" Tai asked, smacking a hand onto the older man's arm.

"Yeah, poor kid got whipped earlier today." Taiyang finally noticed Jaune's bruises, the younger boy shifting uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Yeesh, who the hell did that to you kid?"

"Mercury Black."

Taiyang made a displeased face. "Little shit."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Jaune laughed a little.

"Yo Jaune, you look like shit." Yang said appearing before them with a pleased look. "Got the crap kicked out of you again?"

"Yang! Be nice." Tai scolded to which Yang laughed.

"I'm just messing with him dad, anyways who did it?"

"Mercury Black." All three men answered in unison.

"Hmm, yeah no offense but you had no chance Jaune. Don't worry though, I'll remember to crack his jaw neck time I see him." Yang laughed, folding her hands behind her head.

"Thanks Yang." Jaune smiled slightly before being tugged off by his eager father. Yang wasn't really a friend, but she was similar to Ruby in a sense. Jaune had known her as Tai's daughter for so long, but they didn't really hang out or talk or even know that much about eachother outside the gym. For the most part, they just ignored eachother at school.

"Alrighty Jaune, let your old man teach you the basics. Now, first, we'll start with the dick kick..." the night wore on for a few hours with Jaune learning, once again, how to beat someone up. It wasn't quite as helpful as it could be considering Jaune still had the strength of a cocker spaniel, but he figured there was nothing wrong with learning how to fight at the very least.

However, he couldn't wait for tomorrow. This field trip promised to be a good one...

0-0-0-0

Jaune yawned, bruises mellowing out after a goodnight's sleep. However, nothing could prepare a man for a cold fall morning outside the school grounds, said area which was bustling with a class of bored, apathetic, and tired teens.

"Man, when's Dr. Oobleck gonna get here?" Nora whined, stretching her arms out.

"Patience Nora, patience." Ren said, flipping through his book.

As much as he loved Ren, Jaune was inclined to agree with Nora on this one. If he didn't do something quickly he'd turn into an ice sculpture soon enough, but, as luck would have, at the moment Oobleck's green minivan skidded into the grass and out popped the doctor himself.

"Good morning students, I hope we are all excited for today's events!" there was a moan, not of agreement but just a moan, and the doctor nodded. "Wonderful, it's a 10 mile trek to the ruins from here so I hope you all brought your walking shoes!"

Another moan, with Weiss Schnee being the loudest, before they began to trek into the woods behind the doctor. At this point in the year, it was pointless questioning what the doctor did or said, he was just like that.

"Could be worse," Jaune yawned. "We could be saddled with Port."

Nora gagged at the implication of being stuck in the forest with Port for 10 miles, no doubt being subjected to a heinous retelling of some camping story. The company trudged onwards, many complaining of aching feet and general teenage grievances. The doctor had no problem happily explaining or brushing off their annoyances with the promise of what they'd find at the ruins.

Eventually, after torturous hours of walking, the group finally arrived at the ruin site. The whole thing made the trek seem worth it, this wasn't some run down group of random bricks and pillars, this was an actual building. It was built into the rock face of a cliff and stretched into the sky making it seem almost endless. There were murmurs of excitement and awe which caused the doctor to smile and explain their assignment.

Groups would be paired off into threes and fours to scout the first floor of the ruins only. They had been deemed safe enough to explore, but it was on the condition that none of the students touch or break anything. The students were supposed to categorize what they found and develop hypothesis on why the ruins were the way they were. With the group promising to keep, mostly out of trouble, the kids filtered in excitedly into the large anti-chamber of the entrance of the ruins.

The walls were alight with flashlights and temporary spotlights that showed off detailed carvings by those who were here long ago. It seemed to tell a kind of story with pictures of blasphemous monsters battling against heroes shrouded in halos of light. The monsters appeared to be everything from gigantic birds, to massive wolves, to enormous scorpions, and even what appeared to be a shark the size of a subway train.

The heroes were pictured as being staunch protectors of cities and towns and people. Many held mighty swords that were carved with strange runes and radiated some kind of strange aura.

But then, at the largest wall, there was a carving of what appeared to be artifacts of worship perhaps? They were detailed images of items being destroyed, buried, burned, or kept away. The items being anything from swords, to hammers, to a strange book, a wickedly spiked crown, and a small locket all of which appeared to have been erased with extreme prejudice.

"Hey guys, do these images make you feel, I don't know, funny?" Jaune asked his friend who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it feels almost... wrong. I'm unsure of how exactly to describe it, but it seems as if the creatures themselves are alive perhaps? Like they're looking down on us." Ren shook his head. "I just can't seem to shake this feeling of being watched."

"Yeah, and is anyone else getting this weird feeling like you're soul is cringing away from this entire place?" Nora asked idly, skipping over a turned over stone slab.

"Man, this place is creepy. Maybe you're right Nora, we could find a wizard here." Jaune said, shining his flashlight around.

"Jaune, please do not encourage her." Ren sighed as Nora began to bounce around looking for said wizard.

As the flashlight roamed across the ground a sudden glint made Ren pause for a moment.

"Jaune, shine your flashlight over there again." Ren asked, and when his friend did he caught sight of it. A single, dirty lock sticking haphazardly out of some upturned dirt. Ren motioned for Jaune to go near it and the two dug it up without comment. True to the light, it was a simple box with a single, old lock keeping its contents from the outside world.

"Imma break it open." Jaune whispered, ignoring Ren's comments of what he thought of that idea. Jaune retrieved a small swiss army knife and began to work at the worn and slightly rusted metal before it suddenly gave with a small chink.

Then, he heard it. Like, drums of a sort, or perhaps, maybe, it was more akin to the heartbeat of some great animal, it pounded in his head and in his very soul reaching a volatile tempo. The pace increased as he laid a single hand upon the box and slowly, almost tentatively, began to open it. The heartbeat had grown into a near constant tremor as he finally opened it to reveal-

A locket. A single, simple, silver locket engraved with strange runes but little else. Opening the locket revealed nothing inside, and the odd heartbeat had stopped almost immediately after he opened the box.

"We should give it to Oobleck." Ren said, nodding towards the lock. And they should, it was a piece of history, but, now holding it in his hands, Jaune felt a strange attachment towards it.

"Or, I could keep it and nobody needs to know."

"That's stealing Jaune, even if its from old, dead people. I believe that makes you some kind of grave robber." Ren said, deadpan expression on his face.

"I'll give you 15% of my salary for the next three months if you don't talk."

"Jaune, I'm not going to just-"

"And I'll double that for Nora clean up duty." Ren considered that for a moment before looking around to make sure the coast was clear before returning the box back into the ground and getting up to leave.

0-0-0-0

"Man, you're really interested in that locket, huh Jaune?" Nora asked, looking over her friend's shoulder. Jaune had taken to just idly rubbing his hand over the locket, the chain around his neck.

It was just so... mesmerizing. It captured his attention, and at times he felt like he just couldn't think anymore, this locket was just so cool. Nora shook him back to reality with a start.

"Wha- huh? Oh, right yeah." Jaune nodded absently, returning to the locket and tracing a finger over its engravings. Nora sent a look towards Ren who just shrugged in turn and kept reading.

"Listen guys, I'm going to head home for the night you got our homework assignment?" Jaune asked, pointing to Ren.

"Yeah, I'll turn in all of our work tomorrow." Jaune nodded and left his friend's house heading home to his.

The short trip back home was spent still fawning over the small metallic object he discovered. He gently rubbed a thumb over the markings, feeling them beneath his finger, for the most part there wasn't anything special. Even the strange runes seemed more like a design choice than anything of actual importance, but perhaps it wasn't the locket's design but rather the locket _itself._

Storing these thoughts for later Jaune entered his house, seeing a wrapped plate of food for him.

"Jaune, that you?" He heard his mom call from upstairs.

"Yeah, I just got back from Ren and Nora's." he called back setting his book bag down and jogging up the stairs.

"Ok, just remember you have to make dinner for you sisters tomorrow. Your dad and I are going out of town for a few days for our big trip." She told him. Their big trip was really just an excuse to get hammered and not worry about their kids for a few days, it was practically tradition by now. It was also practically tradition for every kid to host a party while their parents were away.

"And remember son: If you find a nice girl at a party, always remember to keep your sword in its sheath, lest we have a few grand kids about." his dad reminded him before promptly receiving a sharp elbow into his ribs.

"Ignore him sweetheart, are you working this weekend?"

"Nah, Cherry says it'll be too slow what with everyone out of town."

"Ok, so you should be just fine. I left money for as much pizza as you want in the kitchen cupboards." his mom finished as Jaune entered his room. It was only by this time that he noticed that his hands were firmly wrapped around the locket, to the point where the fleshy digits ached as he uncurled them.

Shaking his head of it, Jaune got undressed for a quick shower. The hot water did wonders to relieve his tension and he sighed as he recounted the tiring day, but at least this wasn't a complete loss. I mean, he got some ancient locket right? Can't say that everyday.

After he was finished he dried off, towel jingling the locket occasionally. Deciding to just reheat the dinner for breakfast tomorrow, Jaune climbed into bed feeling inexplicably exhausted from the day. He was out before his head even hit the pillow, or even before he got underneath the covers...

 _He was in a dark place, a cold place._

 _There was no light, to the point where he wasn't quite sure how dark things were. It didn't feel like he was enveloped in a lightless place, this darkness went beyond that to the point where it almost seemed to consume him. And yet, adrift in this void, he didn't feel alone, in fact, he felt as if he was surrounded by something. There was a twinge in his heart, almost a signal saying "over here" to him._

 _He turned, or tried to at least, but found nothing more than sheer black. Another twinge, only this time the world around him seemed to ripple, as if someone had thrown a rock into a calm pond. The ripples crossed eachother, creating a shimmering mirror of darkness that sent his head spinning, but in the optical illusion before him he could see a form. A being._

 _It could've been a few miles away or no more than an inch in front of him. It's shape was familiar, and it felt wrong as if it should not exist by the laws of nature. The entity raised what might have been a hand and spoke._

 _" **I am the lord's king, ruler of an infinite hunger**_ **.** _"_

 _"W-What? I don't understand." Jaune spoke, but the sounds evaporated in the dark._

 _" **We are the sleepless one, crying out amongst an endless space. Yearning to be free from our own choices.** "_

 _" **An existence, left alone and without equal or completion. An accursed fate for the wisest and most noble of heroes, only worsened by what we are now."**_

 _" **We are one, a many faced beast of cosmic proportions. We need you, you need us.**_ **"**

 _" **Let us in, we need you and you need us. We speak of power, and kingdoms long past, you have heard our call for far longer than now. Of eons and ancients, you are our savior.**_ _"_

 _" **Let us in...** "_

 _Jaune felt as though he were falling through an endless abyss. The speed of his descent growing fast and faster, until he felt as though the sheer force would rip him to pieces. His head pounded like before in the ruins, his heart hammered to the point where he thought it would burst, the feelings and sensations reached a crescendo and-_

He awoke. Morning had come, the birds were chirping, and a single honey-colored ray of sunlight beamed through the window. It wasn't like in the movies where the character has a long thought about his dream, because, well, Jaune didn't remember quite anything. Shaking his head, and making the locket jangle, Jaune got up and trudged downstairs.

On the table was a note that read _Too excited, left early. Make breakfast for other brats.- XOXO Mom and Dad._ Jaune sighed and got out the pancake mix for his younger sisters, the older ones being off to college. The locket dangled around his neck as he prepared the food, his youngest sister, Rowena, trudging down the stairs and wiping some sleep from her eyes.

"Mmm, pancakes?" she mumbled, taking a seat at the table.

"Yeah, just sit down and watch some cartoons they'll be ready soon. I'm assuming you want chocolate chips?" he asked, used to this routine.

"Mmhm." she nodded turning on the TV which played some cartoon. By the time Jaune had made several plates of stacked pancakes the others, Akasha, Mindy, and Sienna, had taken their seats and were eating.

"Hey Jaune, what happened to your face?" Mindy asked, nodding towards her older sibling.

"You know I got beat up by Mercury, Mindy." he answered, not feeling the least embarrassed by it.

"No, I know that, but, like, where did it go?"

"What do you mean?" he sighed, not willing to play her games.

"You had a big black eye, but now it's gone."

"Min, you know that it's-" he stopped, and reached up towards his face. The dull throb of the bruise, neigh, the entirety of the dull pain in his body was completely gone. Getting up he left his siblings to go look in the mirror, checking out what had happened. Sure enough, the bruises, still-healing scrapes, and even the red marks had completely vanished.

The locket jingled as he pulled up his shirt to look at his chest. The warzone of acne, red spots, and zits had been erased into a perfectly clean, perfectly smooth land of skin. Frowning at that revelation, he shook his head and pulled his shirt back down, tucking the locket beneath the fabric. He returned to the table and was silent for the rest of the meal, Mindy frowning at him.

After that, he pretty much had the rest of the day to do nothing and decided to call his friends over. Akasha and Rowena were going to their friends house for a sleepover and Mindy was going to a movie with her friends, meanwhile Sienna decided to just sit in her room like usual.

Jaune sat there, watching the TV as Ren and Nora were getting some stuff for a get together when he heard it.

 _Jaune_

The name, simple and clear, was spoken from somewhere. Jaune turned around and look to see who had called him, expecting one of his sisters, but found himself empty and alone in the room. Shrugging it off Jaune sat back and absently fingered the locket around his neck, enjoying his show when he heard a single knock on the door. Getting up he went to answer it and was surprised to find his best pal Mercury Black there.

"Hiya Jaune, sorry to drop by like this but Cinder needs a favor." Mercury said, strutting into Jaune's house. "Nice place. Anyways she needs you to do some research on that project in Peach's, the one about the chemical bonds? She needs you to type up a quick research paper."

"Get lost Mercury, I'm not her slave." Mercury sighed and shook his head.

"Jaune, like I said I'm trying to help you here. You know you're the smartest dude in that class, so she needs your help. I mean come on, you're helping out some hot girl on her chem project no shame in that." he said smoothly, pacing around Jaune. "And of course, you remembered what happened last time we had this conversation. I don't like doing that to you man, but you're not making it easy.

Jaune took a deep breath and stifled his anger, at least for the moment.

"Tell Cinder I am done doing her work, she can get one of her flunkies to do it."

"Alright Jaune, I didn't want to do this but you left me no choice." Mercury sighed with a shrug. "I'd watch your back, it can be very dangerous out there!"

He punctuated the last word with a sucker punch that sent Jaune crashing to the floor. Or, at least, would have had the blow not seemingly bounced off Jaune stomach. Mercury registered that quickly with a silent "what the fuck" before he whirled into a roundhouse that must've sent the blonde boy to the ground.

But it didn't, his foot just bounced off.

"What the fuck?" Jaune was inclined to agree with Mercury's comment, a surprised daze falling over him. "Alright, fuck you then!"

Mercury then went into a frontal kick designed to just knock the guy back, but his boot stopped when it connected with the taller boy's chest. That was enough to break the spell over Jaune who rushed the grey haired boy and tackled him to the ground. Despite the muscle and weight disadvantages Jaune almost effortlessly kept the thug to the ground as he pounded him wildly.

All the years and beatdowns came flowing out in one cathartic punch after the other. Mercury thrashed like a trapped animal but it was no use, the punches became harder and faster and soon Mercury began to lose consciousness. This was it, Jaune was finally getting back at the people who hurt him, if he wanted to he could beat this asshole into the floor.

"-aune! Jaune!" Sienna screeched, smacking Jaune's head and snapping him out of it. "Oh my god, he's had enough!"

Looking down, Jaune jumped back with a start. The side of Mercury's head was split, a jagged cut spilling blood onto the floor, and his face was mashed with bruises appearing across the battered skin. The grey-haired boy groaned in agony as he rolled onto his back. The locket, having fallen free of Jaune's shirt in the fray, jangled above the downed boy like a silver guillotine, a single smear of blood coating it.

"J-Just go get some towels or something!" Jaune ordered, sending Sienna running off.

After a moment she returned and Jaune pressed it down onto the most egregious wound on Mercury's head. After awhile the blood slowed down and Jaune slowly lifted the dizzy boy onto his feet.

"Alright, return home to your girlfriend and don't ever come back to my house." Jaune warned, shoving the woozy boy out onto the street where he stumbled for a moment before limping off.

It was only then that Jaune noticed his heartbeat, fast and wild and full of energy. He had to admit, he had never felt so alive as he did when he was beating his former tormentor into a bloody pulp. Adrenaline was a hell of thing, he must've completely whipped the guy and he didn't even feel dazed from it. Jaune's locket seemed to beat with its own energy, matching his heartbeat and almost amplifying it.

 _Power_

A short, spoken word on the wind. Ignored by Jaune as he smiled in relief, happy to be rid of that bitch and her gang. It was only compounded by the fact that Nora and Ren pulled in down the street and parked on his driveway, both of them getting out and showing off their haul of food and snacks. As Jaune invited them inside and they got their stuff together, Jaune tucked the locket back underneath his shirt, never noticing how the skin around the locket paled.

 _Let us in_


	29. The Blackwater Gospel

**This one was a fan-submitted story that intrigued me, so it will be the first I write. Big thanks to Nuclear Waffle for the idea! Keep a lookout if you submitted a story and it might just be published here!**

 **Also happy birthday to me! Here's my gift to you!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 **The Blackwater Gospel:**

 **Noticing a discrepancy in the Grimm's behavior, Ozpin sends out a few of his most trusted huntsman to research and scout the are, as the chance it could be "her" is dangerous. However, instead, the team finds only a small, wooded town where the denizens couldn't be happier, where they worship their "god" and pray to him every day. All signs point to a malicious entity or person harbored in the town, but perhaps that couldn't be further from the truth.**

0-0-0-0

"Ozpin, is this...?" A rugged, and ragged, man asked looking down at the data.

"I'm afraid so, the Grimm in this area have been acting strange." The wizened old man nodded, hands interlocked. "I am concerned as to the nature of this behavior, so I have asked you to conduct a search."

"Looks to me like it might be a Grimm migration." the black-haired man grumbled.

"At first, I did as well. But the various species aren't moving in tandem, and they aren't moving one direction. Instead, it appears as though they have all scattered from this one area, as if they were repelled back." The headmaster noted, shuffling a few extra papers.

"What's so special about this location?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes at a few of the pictures.

"Nothing of historical or magical sense, but there seems to be a small town known as Blackwater in the center of this strange behavior." Headmaster Ozpin sighed, feeling too old for this job. "Qrow, I've put together a small unit to investigate this and I want you to lead it."

That caught his attention, Qrow raised a sharp gaze at the headmaster. "Ar you sure that's smart? My semblance is, well, kinda shit at group projects, if this is the Queen we don't need to lose any more huntsman than necessary."

"I've thought about that, but this doesn't feel like the Queen's influence. There is literally nothing of importance there, even the town itself has never been the cause of anything even remotely interesting. It's a frontier settlement and nothing more, but the Grimm's willingness to run away puts it as an oddity."

Qrow sighed, thinking of memories long past. "And my team...? Who are they?"

Headmaster smiled slightly, nodding to his trusted companion. "Only people I trust. With the school year not yet beginning, I was able to conscript Port and Oobleck for this assignment."

"Port and Oobleck?" Qrow asked skeptically, he would never deny their merits as a huntsman but for this...

"Oobleck is one of the most brilliant mines in Grimm behavior and history, and Port, although he may not always act it, is an adept huntsman specializing in tracking." Ozpin reasoned.

"Is that it?"

"Yes, I would like you three to ship out immediately..."

0-0-0-0

 **Near Blackwater...**

"Keep close, we have no idea what we can expect." Qrow murmured to his companions, both the older teachers nodding resolutely.

The three expert huntsmen approached the town's gate and took in the site. By all means it looked like an average town, a small wall of wooden spikes acting as a barrier to the outside world and two bored looking guards standing at the gate. A large sign hung over the entrance gate reading "Welcome to Blackwater" and below it a sign read "Population: 358" with the number being scribbled out to say "351".

Sending a quiet glance to his companions, Qrow crept silently around the wall and turned into his crow form. With a short caw he flew overhead and landed on one of the buildings in the town center. Instead of finding the townsfolk massacred or turned into Grimm, he found a bunch of normal people going about their daily business, shopkeeps sold wares and the old women of the town gossiped. All in all, Blackwater was an average town.

However, Qrow did notice a single glaring thing. All over the square, on doors, made out of glass, and even sewn into some of the clothing, was a symbol; a single, yellow crescent moon. Cocking his avian head around, Qrow took in the fact that _everything_ had at least one symbol of it on the outside, and he guessed there would be even more on the inside.

A religion perhaps? It would make sense, in his travels Qrow often found varying religions in frontier settlements, stories and parables to help people get through trying times and stave off the Grimm. Still, if this was indeed a religion, these might've been the most pious folk he had ever stumbled upon. Despite that, they didn't seem to be in any danger nor did they radiate anything dangerous to Qrow's senses.

If anything, they seemed happy. Happy just going about their daily chores, happy with chatting with friends, happy being kids and running around playing huntsman, etc etc. There was nothing evil, and nothing radiated a sense of impending doom, but then something else curious happened. What appeared to be megaphones attached to large wooden poles all around time gave off a whine of feedback before something began to chime through them.

Music.

It was music, piano music to be specific. And at once, as a unit, the bustling people stopped their movement as men took off their hats, older women bowed their heads, and some folk dropped to their knees in religious fervor. The crowds around him whispered prayers to themselves, some smiling brightly as if all their worries had up and disappeared.

And then, the singing started.

 _"Led through the mist, by the milk-light of the moon, all that is lost, is revealed."_ A voice crooned over the speakers. A young one speaking in dulcet tones and belonging to what Qrow most likely thought was a young man.

 _"Our long bygone burdens, mere echoes of the spring, but where have we come? And where shall we end?"_ Qrow saw a woman began crying in an emotional mess, wiping her tears and bowing her head again.

 _"If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend? How the gentle wind, beckons through the leaves as Autumn colors Fall."_ the singing stopped and was replaced by a sweet and melancholic piano solo.

A grizzled man down below let a single, silent tear fall. Mothers and fathers brought their kids close as they hummed to the tune.

 _"How the gentle breeze, beckons through the leaves. As Autumn, colors Fall. Dancing in a swirl of golden memories, the loveliest lies of all, the loveliest lies of all."_ the voice began to whistle for a moment before continuing.

 _"Dancing in a swirl of golden memories, the loveliest lies of all."_ the song closed to a somber finish as a few more townsfolk let out some choked cries. Qrow sat perplexed, perched on the top of a house.

Ok, scratch "most pious folk" and replace it with "fervent cultists". The crowds began to move again, going about their daily business once more as normalcy returned to the town once again. Qrow picked up some snippets of conversation from the bustling people below that made him frown, or at least would have if he were able to.

"Our lord truly is a most beautiful man." he heard one woman sigh dreamily.

"How many other folk can say that heard the force of God like _that_?" one older man bragged to his friend who agreed.

"By the lord, he truly is a most benevolent god." an old woman crooned to her friends as she knit.

Gods? Lords? These people seemed a few bullets short of a full clip if you asked Qrow, but still, this was troubling to say the least. Ozpin might've been right, this didn't seem like the influence of _her_ , but whatever was happening it couldn't be good. The best he could theorize was that someone was controlling the people in the town, distorting their views to crown himself their new god.

A huntsman, or some other individual who decided to have a town all to themselves. Qrow took off into the air to report back to his teammates who stood crouched the brush outside of town.

"Did you two get any of that?" Qrow asked, transforming back into a man.

"Aye, not all of it but we heard the music and the gate guards dropped to their knees." Port said, frowning deeply and staring into the town. "Did you catch anything?"

"Besides a bunch of happy, healthy townsfolk not at all." Qrow mumbled, casting a glance back towards the town. "I'm afraid we'll have to infiltrate the town ourselves."

"Hmm, that could cause problems if we simply burst into the town guns blazing. The individuals in the town don't seem to be acting of their own doing, or at least not fully." Oobleck surmised, rubbing his chin. "And yet, this doesn't quite explain the strange Grimm behavior. A side effect of what's happening to the town perhaps?"

"No, doesn't feel like it. I can't imagine the Grimm dropping to their knees and praying all of the sudden." Qrow said, furrowing a brow in thought.

"Hmm, tell me, Qrow, what did the people seem like to you? Were they happy?" Oobleck asked, forming a theory.

"Hell yeah, they only seemed to grow happier when the music starting playing, why?" He asked, leaning against a tree.

"Well, it's just a theory, but Grimm are, on average, attracted to places where there is extreme negativity and avoid places where there is extreme positivity. Perhaps the overall combined happiness of the town is simply pushing the Grimm away, as the Grimm aren't likely to want to spend time around a single epicenter of happiness." he finished, taking a sip from his thermos.

Qrow supposed that made sense, the Grimm were simply leaving to find greener pastures so to speak. Still, this required a more thorough investigation into the identity of whatever is causing this.

"Port, head back to camp and contact Ozpin with what we found. Oobleck, you and I will infiltrate the town and find whatever is causing this." The two other huntsman nodded and Port took off towards their camp.

"How do we go about doing this?" Oobleck asked, eyeing the front gate. "I don't imagine we'll simply waltz through the front door?"

"I'll scout around for a moment, cover me." Qrow transformed and took to the air, circling along the walls several times before returning.

"Along the southern wall their is a small gap you can fit through." Qrow reported. "I'll meet you there."

When Oobleck arrived and quietly jammed himself through the gap, Qrow was there waiting for him laid flat against a building. The two peered around the corner to find the people still going about their business as if nothing had happened, more of the strange symbols being visible inside the windows of the various houses dotted around.

"This is strange." Oobleck murmured to which Qrow silently agreed, strange was indeed a word for it.

The two snuck around the alleys and back spaces of the village, avoiding the notice of the locals as they did so. Qrow narrowed his eyes in search of something, somewhere where that voice could be originating from. The most obvious answer was the small church on the western end of the village, but that seemed unlikely with how it seemed to have been ransacked and boarded up.

That left what must have been the town's local government building, a three story converted mansion of place on the opposite end of the village. Nodding to himself, Qrow silently motioned towards the large building and Oobleck followed his lead. The two continued to skip around the houses, narrowly avoiding passing townsfolk, before they were only a couple of streets away.

Qrow could make out a shiny plaque of the front of the building from the alleyway they were in but was unable to read it. The building itself seemed to be the most heavily guarded place in the entire town, with militia standing at every visible point on the property. Qrow began formulating a plan on how to get to the mansion before the loudspeakers whined above him.

There was a sound of man tussling with some equipment slightly before he cleared his throat.

 _"Citizens, it is time to say our daily prayer."_ the voice said solemnly. Qrow noted that it was drastically different from the singing voice from before, this one sounding like it belonged to a heavily accented man.

Like with the music, all the townsfolk bowed their heads and took off their caps. All motion grinded to a halt as the entire population stood still in a silent prayer, the voice was silent for a moment before it started again.

" _Citizens, we lucky few must never forget that our gracious lord has gifted us with his presence. We holy disciples must act as our Lord's protectors, nurturers, and advisers as he expands into the new world."_

 _"Our Lord's words must never be doubted, save for in the course of protecting him. Citizens, I have come to a revelation in my dreams, our good Lord requires a new heir to his glorious name. He must spread his seed to the holy maiden, and she will be gifted with the child of light."_ as much as a ladies man as he was, Qrow couldn't help but cringe at that which nearly turned into a full tremor as he saw more than a few "holy maidens" looking quite eager for the job.

 _"Soon, our Lord will mature and he will guide mankind into the next golden age. He alone has the power to drive back the unholy tide of monsters, and restore this world to its rightful owners. We must give thanks for our Lord god for blessing us with his divine presence, and we must never stray from our righteous path."_

 _"There will be dissenters, there will be false shepherds and lies told around every corner. Citizens, we must not succumb to the temptation of these lies, no, we must cut away the poison from the world, both Grimm and human. At times, it will almost seem cruel, it will seem impossible but we must remember, dear citizens, that no soul cannot be redeemed in his light. Those slain by his righteous hand and his righteous flock, will find a new life in serving him in the great beyond, we are the one true path citizens."_

There was a collective "Amen" from the entirety of the crowd. Seeing an opportunity, as everyone bowed down in prayer, Qrow motioned for Oobleck to follow him in as they crossed the street moving from mailbox to pillars and even behind signs. The voice continued to drone on and on about prayers or something followed by frequent amens. As Qrow and Oobleck neared the large mansion Qrow spied a single opening in the attic of the house.

"Oobleck," he whispered motioning towards the opening. "I'm going in, meet up with Peter again and call in a bullhead for evac."

"Are you sure? If you get caught in there you won't be able to get out." Oobleck whispered harshly, thermos in hand.

Qrow gave a wry smile. "That would be just my luck wouldn't it?"

And with that he transformed and flew high into the air before diving down into the small hole. Inside was, well, an attic complete with dusty blankets draped over even dustier furniture. The air was warm and stuffy, molecules of dust visible in the fading sunlight. Slowly, and with expert caution, Qrow traversed the old floorboards careful not to make a sound. He stood over a single trap door at the end of the attic, pressing an ear against it and focusing his aura told him that either no one was in the hall or they weren't moving.

Carefully, Qrow opened the door and peered around slightly. With a sigh of relief at it being empty, Qrow dropped down onto the shag carpeting to reveal an old, yet luxurious, hallway. If this so-called god was anywhere, it had to be here. Venturing down the hallway, Qrow picked up the sounds of a conversation just outside a nearby room.

"So, you talk to him lately?" one voice asked.

"Nah, the high priest doesn't want anyone to go see him. Says that our lord is having some difficult times, I don't blame him either. I mean, the poor guy has to psyche himself up to be a father, and trust me, that ain't no easy thing." another said in an accent.

"What, you think he can't handle it?" the first voice asked, sounding slightly indignant.

"Nah, of course he can he's _the_ god. But hey, parenting ain't easy for nobody, god or not."

"Yeah, I guess you got a point there. So, you thinking of trying to set him up with one of your daughters?"

"Who, Olive? I don't know, the girl gets so shy I don't want to embarrass her or the lord with it. I mean, I love her but I think there's better people to go chasing after."

"Hehe, true that."

Qrow shook his head, continuing down the hallway before he came upon a grandiose set of stairs. Silently creeping down, Qrow took notice of the fact that this building seemed more like a converted house than anything. From the stairs he could see the entryway to a kitchen and another door beside that, weighing his options and hearing some footsteps from the kitchen Qrow opted for the door.

He crept silently along the mahogany wood floor, keeping his senses working overtime to alert him of any danger. Oobleck was right, it'd be bad if he got caught in the middle of the town by these people. Laying flat against a wall, Qrow peered into the kitchen where what appeared to be a few guardsmen on their break sat chatting around a table. Qrow slowly reached for the knob to the door and felt it open with a soft _click!_

The door lead down a flight of stairs into what must've been a basement and, sensing someone's approach, crept down the stairs and into another dank, dreary hallway. This one being unlike the lavished ones from before, instead being made of soulless concrete and ending with a massive steel door. Seven different locks were bolted to the damn thing which only made it more imposing.

"But why are..." Qrow trailed off, if there was someone important in there why keep the locks on the outside? Perhaps this wasn't where their "God" was, but instead this was some kind of holding cell.

Shaking his head and going to look over the locks, Qrow noticed only one of them required an actual key with the rest being able to be opened on their own. Kneeling down and fishing out his lockpicking set, he _was_ raised in a family of bandits, and began to work the lock. It took a few moments but eventually it opened with a satisfying click and the professional huntsman slowly slid the door open, sword in hand.

Inside was a complete difference to the hallway, with a room furnished in expensive furniture and lovely paintings. A large bed was tucked into one corner and a grand piano in the other one. But, in the center, on a chair near a roaring fireplace, sat a young man reading a book. He didn't seem to take heed of Qrow's entry and didn't even spare a glance before sighing.

"Brought me a bride have you?" he asked in a sort of disappointed yet resigned way.

"No, I haven't." Qrow replied gruffly, and _that_ made the man stop and perk up.

The boy turned his head to reveal a young, blonde face. Absently, Qrow was almost reminded of a young Tai before the young man in front of him got up slowly as if he was trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

"You- You're not one of them are you?" he asked with disbelief and wonderment.

"Ugh, no. So, you must be this god I've heard so much about." this time the kid actually barked out a laugh that seemed both bitter and amused.

"Sir, I am no such thing. I am not a god nor lord of anything, these people are just nuts!" he responded with a giddy laugh. "But you, you must be a huntsman!"

"Y-Yes I am, I've been sent to investigate this place." Qrow responded warily, this kid could be pulling a trap.

"Oh thank the gods I've been saved!" the boy said, throwing his hands into the air. "Sir, you must get me out of here these people are crazy! They think I'm some kind of reincarnated god or something and they won't let me leave until I've "matured" whatever that means."

"You mean to tell me that everything out there isn't your fault?" Qrow asked in disbelief, the boy's smile faltered and died.

"Well, not entirely. My semblance, I discovered it months ago, almost a year now, it's a sort of subtle mental manipulation. From what I've seen my semblance slowly alters the perspective of people around me in a way that makes them delusional." he said, scratching the back of his head. "I-I didn't know what to do so I just played along until... well until things took a turn for the worst and I tried to run."

"You ran?"

"Tried to at least, they caught me twice before they just locked me up down here. For my own safety they called it." The boy snorted in disgust. "My name's Jaune by the way, Jaune Arc."

"Qrow Branwen." The elder huntsman rumbled, turning his attention back to the door. "Don't suppose you know another way out of here do you?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, one way in and one way out."

Qrow muttered a curse, that certainly made things more difficult. The grizzled veteran peeked outside the steel door and saw the faint outline of someone's shoes clunking down the old steps. Muttering another curse Qrow shut the door and quietly as possible before turning to the young man.

"Someone's coming, I'll lay down a trap just act casual." Jaune looked unsure of his plan but this was no time for arguments.

Qrow laid down behind an antique chair and subtly peeked out, he heard the quiet murmurs of a confused person before the door was slung open violently.

"My lord!" an middle-aged man dressed in a white robe cried, launching himself in with a frantic expression.

"It's fine High Priest, I'm ok." Jaune soothed rather robotically, as if he'd been through the motions.

"Oh thank your grace, but how did this happen? The defenses on your door have become unlocked!" The High Priest said, still a little frantic.

"I believe I heard someone earlier attempting to unlatch the locks, but I did not dare to venture out to see if it was safe." Jaune explained, rolling with the plan as best as possible.

"As you should have your grace, your flock would be distraught without your guidance!" The strange man wailed in abject horror at the prospect.

"I am fine Bylun, you may return to your work." Jaune calmed him down with a hand.

"Of course your grace, I was merely here to congratulate you on that mesmerizing piece earlier. Your flock eagerly listened in and prayed with such fervor I must have the audacity to ask if you would do it again soon." Bylun said, now much more calm, as he bowed slightly.

"Of course Bylun." Jaune answered and that was the moment Qrow struck.

As the priest's eyes closed in reverence Qrow dashed out from his corner and struck the man behind his head. Bylun sagged and fell to the floor in a heap, completely knocked out.

"D-Did you really need to...?" Jaune trailed off with a gulp before shaking his head. "No, he had it coming."

Qrow chose to ignore the darkness in the boy's words for now as he grabbed him by the hand and lead them through the corridor back to the stairs leading to the first floor. Qrow peered outside a small sliver of the open door to check for guards and, seeing none, motioned for Jaune to follow him quickly and quietly. The two crept out of the basement door and moved along the wall, keeping close to eachother.

They made it to the side door of the house and Qrow took a moment to once again peer outside. Nothing visible, a bored-looking guard here and there but nothing of importance. Qrow nodded and opened the door, his divine charge behind him, before he heard something that made his blood run cold.

"Who are you?"

A surly voiced asked from his side. Turning his head, Qrow saw a 30 something year old man aiming the barrel of a rifle at the huntsman's head, the expression on the guard's face critical and suspicious. The man's faced then changed into a flurry of awe, wonderment, worry, and even a hint of anger.

"M-My lord," the man began, fumbling as he internally debated dropping to a knee and going over to guard his lord. "I did not know it was you, but the high priest-"

"Bylun already knows Faraj, do not trouble yourself with it. Return to your post, tell the High Priest I have absolved you of your sins." Jaune commanded in a firm, yet gentle voice. Qrow was surprised at the tone, but found himself remembering that this kid was their reincarnated god or something.

"O-Of course your holiness, I live to serve you." The man bowed deeply before turning around and leaving.

"Sweet jumpin shit kid, you got some pull around here." Qrow commented idly.

"God remember? Let's keep going." Jaune replied curtly, dragging Qrow along with him.

The two had made it halfway to the village before the loudspeakers whined to a start again. The people, though confused and slightly troubled, began to remove hats and begin their praying stances before they were cut short.

 _"My glorious fellow citizens, the worst has come to pass!"_ A familiar voice, Bylun, wailed painfully. _"A false shepherd has infiltrated our town and he- he- he has taken the good lord!"_

The voice devolved into a painful sob for a moment as other followed suit. Men, women, and children began to comprehend the words and had begun to cry and wail in agony, other, however, set their faces in stone and already moved to grab suitable weapons. It was only a moment before the High Priest collected himself and cleared his throat.

 _"Citizens, we cannot let our god be captured by these barbaric heathens. Assemble yourselves and follow me as we take back our god into the safety of our town, we will not falter in this divine test that the lord has given us!"_ The crowd roared in a collective anger, the type that brought the most bitter of enemies together for a cause.

To kill Qrow Branwen.

Qrow swore and grabbed the boy behind him before speeding off at his top pace. There wasn't much point in stealth when an entire town of people were looking for you, instead he opted to rush through the streets with a boy being whipped around in the wind behind him. It was only a moment before a voice shouted for them and hundreds surged forth to reclaim their holy icon.

"Dammit Bart where's my evac!" Qrow shouted, barely avoiding a pitchfork slung at his chest. "Sorry about this kid."

Jaune had no time to ask what he meant before he was slung forward as a sort of shield. Instantly the crowd gave wave and pointed their improvised weapons elsewhere, some screaming in horror. As they passed the crowd would roar again and give chase with twice the effort, Qrow was impressed at the fact they had been keeping up, even as a group, with a hunter of his caliber.

Then, as if my divine intervention ironically, Qrow heard the mighty whirring of a bullhead in front of him. The grey steel behemoth just over the gates as those inside defended against a staccato of gunfire from the gate guards. Qrow redoubled his efforts and charged forth with a speed propelled by his aura, behind him a single man tripped and caused an avalanche of people to fall over him.

The tidal wave of people behind them folded across eachother as each one lost their footing and gave the two needed space to continue. Qrow could make out Port firing a volley of shots to disperse the meager guardsman around the bullhead. Seeing an opportunity, Qrow gave a mighty leap, hugging the young man close, and sprung from the head of individual guards towards the bullhead.

"Hurry!" Port shouted, clipping a nearby guardsman who had aimed his sights on the huntsman.

Finally, with a mighty leap and a scream from Jaune, Qrow flew through the air and caught hold of the bullhead's floor. Port lifted him up with ease and brought Jaune aboard before yelling at the pilot to get out of here. Down below, Qrow could hear the mighty, and terrifying roar, of thousands of folk all yearning to get their god back into their loving arms. Looking towards Jaune, Qrow was displeased to find the young man looking sick to his stomach as he viewed down upon them with a mix of pity and fear.

Qrow closed the bullhead doors and sat the young man down on one of the nearby seats.

"So, anyone want to explain?" Port asked the two, Qrow sighing deeply as Jaune seemed to shake ever so slightly.

Qrow gave another sigh when it was obvious Jaune did not intend to speak. "The townsfolk looked up to Jaune, the kid, as their god due to his semblance, a sort of mental manipulation power. The people in Blackwater had been altered to believe he is their god, so they kept him locked away for almost a year now. I busted him out when I found him and hauled ass back to the bullhead."

Port frowned before trying to say something, and then simply frowned again. Oobleck sidled over to Jaune carefully, putting a reassuring hand onto one of his shoulders before asking him some questions.

"Ok young man, we're going to take you to Vale, to Beacon Academy. A hunter school." Oobleck started before offering up a small cup of his thermos's liquid. "I need you to explain what you can about your semblance."

Jaune took a tentative sip before nodding shakily. "I-I, my semblance- I mean, Qrow kinda got it pegged there. It passively influences people's perspective towards me, messing with their mind until they become nothing more than fanatics. I-I think it kind of spreads like a disease, infecting one person over time and having them spread their ideas and vision across a multitude of people."

"At first, I thought I had just gotten popular. The guy who used to bully me apologized, and offered to be my friend if I ever needed one, I was hesitant but accepted and soon we were like brothers. The girls around town began to notice me more, some vying for my attention at times even, and the adults around me praising me for everything." he sighed deeply, sipping his drink. "And then, Mayor Bylun went nuts one day, showing up at my house with a mob of people, screeching something about how he was unworthy for my grace."

"I had no clue what he was talking about, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt so I went outside to calm them down. Instead, it was like the second coming of god with people bowing, praying, crying, even some admitting their sins and it was... overwhelming. My dad grabbed me and took me inside, and I guess the townsfolk thought he was trying to hurt me and they... I- I mean they-"

Oobleck laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "That's enough for now, can you tell me anything about your semblance?"

"It- It works slowly, almost unnoticeable at first. But, it grows exponentially working itself into someone's brain at the deepest part, modifying their senses, concepts of reality, and thoughts. Then, that person begins to work outward, spreading ideas, seeds if you will, into other people's brains that then becomes a part of them. It spreads like a virus, but I think the initial infection is slow."

"So, even now we're-" Peter began, startled.

"Coming under my spell? Most likely." Jaune finished.

Qrow watched the whole scene unfold, biting his lip. He was unsure as to what to do with the kid, put him in a hunter school and they'd have a big, _big_ problem on their hands soon enough. Give him to Jimmy and they'd likely dissect him or use him as a weapon, give him to Leo and he was bound to "disappear", and if they pass him off to Braith then things could get even worse.

Qrow picked up his scroll and dialed Ozpin, who answered on the second ring.

 _"Qrow, have you found the source of the strange behavior?"_

"I have, and you'll never guess what it is..."


	30. Keep Your Hand on Your Gun

**This one is coming straight from the mind of Mysterious Mr. E! I loved this idea and forgot I had began to put something together for it awhile ago. Anyways, enjoy this wonderful chapter and, a little spoiler, the next one is going to be about JoJo.'**

 **Also, I have one more request I need to find and write so keep them coming. And, as a side note, I love all things Lovecraft and any good ideas for it usually end up being written here. Just a little food for thought!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 **Keep Your Hand on Your Gun:**

 **Remnant is a wild place, full of wilder beasts. It's a place where the strong thrive and the weak die, for better or for worse. But sometimes, that strength turns rotten and needs to be cut out. That's where Jaune comes in, he's the clean-up crew, the exterminator, and if you need a bad element gone he's your man...**

0-0-0-0

Vacuo, a place that's more fit for a sandy graveyard than a kingdom but then again, beggars can't be choosers. Among the endless wastes of the sun-scorched dunes rides a single black motorbike, its occupant covered in a thick shawl from the sun. The chopper roars across the yellow sand, kicking up a dirty cloud behind it as the man approaches his destination.

He caught wind of this one days ago, and it just so happened to rub him the right way. Up ahead the small town of Agua Fria glistened in the unending heat, the adobe houses being cooked like ovens beneath the merciless sun. As the lone man grew closer his sunglassed eyes caught a single hint of rustling beneath the heated sand and he frowned beneath the shawl.

Reaching a hand down to his side, the man undid the clasp on his holster as he neared the small disturbance. When he was no less than 15 feet the worm-like Grimm erupted forth to snag the helpless traveler from his bike.

Or that was the plan before the black rider fired an armor piercing round straight into the creature's head. The beast squealed in agony, thick ichor beginning to sizzle on the sand, before he slammed flat against the ground before beginning to disappear. As the rider left the corpse beneath he scowled beneath the shawl and growled something to no one.

"I fucking hate Vacuo." the man ground out, approaching the town at long last.

Pulling up to the town the man found himself face-to-face with at least a dozen armed militia guards and a rather worn looking old man. The guards shifted nervously, obviously perturbed by the new intruder, and looked to their village elder for guidance. The old turtle faunus cast a sleepy look at the younger ones who jabbed the spears towards the outsider and sighed at their zeal.

"Outsider, why have you come here?" he rasped out in a dull voice, smacking his wooden cane onto the ground for effect.

"Ah heard you needed an extermination done." the man grunted back in a thick accent.\

The elder narrowed his eyes. "We have no need of a huntsman, the Grimm have begun to move south for the migration of the carrion birds."

"And 'ah ain't talkin' bout the Grimm old man." the rider responded back, getting off his bike and causing the guards to take a step back. "Ah heard you got a little rodent infestation in this here town, thought I'd come and check it out."

The elder took a moment to think before realization dawned in his eyes. "Ah, yes of course, that pesky rodent."

The faunus man motioned for the rider to follow him. The man in black tossing a pair of keys to closest faunus with a warning of what would happen if he lost his bike followed the wise elder back to his moderate home. Inside, while cooler, the heat could still be felt as a tray of biscuits rose as they were planted upon the window sill, above the sounds of playing could be heard.

Taking off the shawl to reveal a black shirt and pair of dusted jeans, the man turned his face to elder quizzically.

"My grandchildren, they're so full of energy just as most of them are. Julianna, my youngest, has, unfortunately, quite the passion for exploration." the old man rasped out before shaking his head. "I am Elder Wu, and I assume you are the Lone Gunman we have heard tell of?"

The Gunman raised an eyebrow. "You heard 'a of me?"

Elder Wu laughed a dry laugh. "Of course, you are known even to us out here for your exploits. The Pecos gang being your latest endeavor?"

"Aye, mighty hard to kill sons of bitches 'ah tell you that much." the younger man spit to the side and turned back to the elder's slightly bemused face. "What?"

"It's nothing, but- I-I suppose I thought you'd be-"

"Older? 'Ah get that a lot, especially from my targets." the young man laughed, blonde hair shaking along with it. "They like to laugh a whole lot before I gun their asses down."

The Gunman laughed again, a deep and resounding sound that did not match his slim figure. Elder Wu regarded the man carefully, beyond the shirt and pants the young man wore a pair of brown leather cowboy boots and he had several pouches and bandoleers slung upon his waist. On his wrists lay a pair of sleek looking black gauntlets and would rattle like a snake's every so often.

So this was The Lone Gunman, the man who traveled roamed the western wastes in search of justice. Or so the tall tales said, if one asked Elder Wu what he thought the old faunus would surmise that people made up things to make the man seem larger than life. It was no fault of his own, the man didn't seem one for bragging eschewing such things in exchange for pragmatism, but people out here needed someone to believe in.

A hero, a fable, a story of a single man against the Grimm. Elder Wu thought it almost laughable at the fact some believe this young man went toe-to-toe with Serket while saving an innocent faunus village. It was the stuff that made good story for a 5 lien comic book, but in actuality the elder suspected this so-called "gunman" failed to live up to every expectation.

Despite that, the boy did seem to have some aptitude for fighting. That physique was impressive and his weapons looked pretty nasty to contend with, so perhaps he would prove to be a saving grace after all.

"Ok young man, I can appreciate a strong warrior when I see one, but I wonder if you are able to contend with our problem?" Elder Wu baited the young man's ego, his time as elder had taught him that young ones, especially men, are susceptible to arrogance and prone to action before thought.

"Depends what exactly it is." The gunman responded curtly with a snort. Elder Wu felt a smile dance on his lips, this boy appeared to be of a different caliber than the others it seemed.

"His name is Redd Alamo, and he's proven to be quite the thorn in our side." Elder Wu recounted to the traveling hero. "He came about a month ago, him and a gang of four, he claimed that he was a former huntsman who had lost his righteous path or some other nonsense. Nonetheless, he acted as nothing more than a bandit, albeit a particularly strong one."

"Ah suspect he's given you the classic "gimme your shit" routine then?" the man asked crudely, popping another eyebrow.

"Among other things, last time he threatened to destroy the village if we didn't give him a suitable wife." Elder Wu said bitterly before shaking his head, knowing ire would buy him nothing.

"Yep, sounds like a your standard outlaw. Thinks more with his head than his head you know?" The gunman laughed, the elder summoning up a chuckle to go along with it. "Anywho you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be able to help you out. Redd's got a bounty on him for a sweet, sweet 1500 lien and 'ah aim to collect that."

"Dead, or alive?" Elder Wu asked out of curiosity.

The gunman nodded. "Dead or Alive is correct."

Elder Wu sighed and resisted the urge to rub his temples. "Redd is out with his gang about 10 miles West of here. He's holed up in a small cabin on the rockface, big red one you can't miss it."

"Ok, ok anything else?" The bounty hunter asked.

"He's got a semblance, makes him able to sense someone's blood. He uses a sword-gun, like a longsword with a pistol built in I think." Wu finished, struggling to remember what he could. "The others are just hired help, nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. Redd wears this stupid red trenchcoat, you can't miss him."

"Alrighty, I'll be back in a flash old man. Consider your troubles lifted." The gunman joked, heading for the door before Elder Wu stopped him.

"Your name, what is it really?"

The gunman turned back with a toothy grin. "Jaune, Jaune Arc professional bounty hunter at your service sir!"

0-0-0-0

"Man I fucking hate Vacuo." Jaune swore, wiping his brow as his black hat whipped in the wind. If he had to go back because his favorite cowboy hat fell of he was pretty damn sure he'd light the whole continent on fire.

Redd Alamo's hut could vaguely be seen in the distance, lines of heat distorting the view. Jaune narrowed his eyes, he had faced down plenty of rogue huntsman in his career, but that never made it any less of a pain in the ass. As Jaune approached he killed the engine and ducked behind so as not to arouse suspicion within his quarry, a huntsman was a huntsman no two ways about it.

Creeping up along the rock face Jaune took careful note of possible ambush spots and pitfalls. Up ahead, the wooden cabin was visible, a single, rugged and old looking, man sat hunched over in a rocking chair. Even from his distance Jaune could pick up on the audible sounds of snoring, the old man's chest rising and falling slowly as he drooled into his lap.

Rolling his eyes but staying alert, the bounty hunter drew closer to the cabin, moving from cover to cover. As he got less than a few feet away from the wall, the rickety door opened and the sound of boots carried onto the old porch. Jaune sucked in a breath and stealthily activated his semblance.

There was something akin to a whap and the sound of someone starting awake.

"Floyd, what the fuck are you doing?" an exasperated voice hissed. "What if a goddamn Grimm came up on you? This ain't the city asshole!"

"I-I was just taking a little cat nap, to keep up my strength." the old voice stuttered.

"For god's sake, get out the goddamn chair I'll take the watch." the sound of boots thunking on wood carried into the house and the door shut.

 _Hmm, this could be troubling_ Jaune thought to himself. No one had raised an alarm so it was safe to assume that Jaune's countermeasures were working, if this huntsman could sense blood then he should have noticed Jaune by now. Peeking around the corner, Jaune caught sight of a younger man gazing hawkishly out onto the barren plains of the desert, head roving back and forth.

Jaune decided to go around back to find another entrance but instead found a small door and a musty window. Peering through, the bounty hunter caught sight of 2 men playing a game of cards with the older man from before asleep on a chair. One of the men playing cards was much large than the rest, broad shoulders signifying him as the leader even if the strange weapon wasn't present.

Ducking back down again Jaune filtered through his options. Unknowing of how strong this huntsman was, it'd be a bad idea to just rush in and try to fight all four of them at once. An ambush could work, but chances are these guys had already booby-trapped the best spots and there would be no way to lure them out without causing major suspicion.

Then, as if hearing his prayers above, one of the men playing cards grunted. "Ain't that village, Agua whatever, 'posed to give us a girl soon?"

"Yeah, what of it? I don't want to rush 'em into giving me someone ugly." Redd grunted back, laying down a card.

"Well, maybe we should just do it ourselves. Pick someone out that we can see instead of having to trek all the way there a second time if we don't like the first one." the smaller bandit offered, causing his boss to rub his chin.

"Eh, suppose that could work. I guess you got a good point there Shesep, good work." Redd chuckled. "Let's head out this evening, no sense in waiting too long right?"

Perfect, these idiots lured themselves into a trap. Jaune snuck back into the wastes around the cabin as he blended into the rocks and debris, all the while keeping his semblance up just in case. It wasn't easy, but if he kept it low-level he should evade capture at least for now. And, in no time at all, the sun began to set across the desert and a small cacophony of boots could be heard crunching across the ground.

Peering over his boulder, Jaune saw Redd and his posse making their way to the town of Agua Fria. Jaune followed behind them, keeping a safe distance before they mounted their horses and sped off towards the town. Smiling to himself, Jaune made for his bike and prepared an ambush for the ignorant thieves...

As Redd approached the cowering townsfolk, sending a warning glance at the militia, he laughed as he sought out the most beautiful female. He found her near the back, red hair and tanned skin to die for, oh yes, she'd be perfect. Redd approached the woman, crowd giving way until only the woman's boyfriend or family member stood between the criminal and his prize.

"Back off boy, and I'll let you live." Redd chuckled ominously.

"I-I won't let you touch her!" the young man shouted back, claws flicking to life.

"Prasino!" the redhead pleaded, holding onto his shoulder.

"Listen to her boy, don't worry we'll take good care of her, right boys?" Redd was about to chuckle along with his gang until he didn't hear their usual banter. Frowning and turning to reprimand them, he instead clenched his jaw at the sight of all three of them laying in a mixed pool of blood.

The citizens around them were white-faced but said nothing. Redd snorted like a bull and lumbered over to the small group, towering above even the oldest of the men and looking on him with a subdued rage.

"Who. Did. This?" he ground out harshly, the man below wincing.

"I-I- I mean i-it was-"

"It was the gunman!" someone shouted, Redd turning to face them.

The crowd parted to reveal a young boy, pre-teen at best, his mother hugging him close. Redd breathed deeply and made for the boy, all the while staring right into his soul.

"What was that boy?" he asked quietly.

The boy seemed to shake but did not hesitate to answer. "It was the Lone Gunman, he's come for your gang of thieves!"

The boy's mother whispered for him to shut up, only for the towering criminal in front of her to laugh heartily. Redd wiped a tear from his eye and smiled down at the boy with a quiet disdain.

"That fairy tale kid? What, a big bad man dressed in black is gonna come down to save this rotten little town?" Redd chuckled, grabbing a fistful of the boy's hair and tearing him away from the crying mother. "Let me tell you something _kid_ , this world is piss-poor enough without little shits like you going on about delusional fantasies of heroes doing battle to save everyone."

"Fuck... you..." the young boy growled out.

"You got balls kid, I like that. Shame I gotta rip 'em off though." the criminal huntsman reached for his sword, the crowd around shifting in anxiety as others held the boy's mother back. "See you in hell kid-"

It was as if the world stopped, all sound and movement froze with the crack of a single gunshot. Once more, the crowd parted to reveal The Lone Gunman, Jaune Arc, standing there, gauntlets rattling as the revolving gatling gun inside slowed.

"Got room for one more?" Jaune asked as the outlaw sank to the ground.

For a moment the townsfolk did nothing, staring at the body of the man who terrorized them. Then, the first cry of relief came and then another and another which was soon followed by a wave of shouts and cheers. People swarmed both the fresh body and their hero, lifting the latter into the air with cries of joy and pride, Jaune bore it all without complaint, a side aspect of the job. The night slowly devolved into a rhythm of partying and drinking to celebrate Agua Fria's new independence, Jaune sat alone on an adobe house's roof.

"Room for one more?" Elder Wu parodied, taking a seat next to Jaune with a long sigh. "That was... impressive. We, myself and my people, are everlastingly grateful for what you have done for us but, the young ones, I suppose they expected...?"

"More? More fanfare?" Jaune chuckled at the Elder's slightly embarrassed face. "Don't worry, when I started I did too. And for a little while I did do the whole "pistols and noon" thing until I realized how dangerous and stupid it was. Nowadays I settle for a cheesy one-liner, helps for PR and all that."

"I suppose, say, how did Redd not notice you?" Elder Wu asked, every sneak attack they tried was always thwarted by the man's damnable semblance.

"Hmm? Oh, for awhile I simply disabled it. Nullifying it with my own semblance, but in the village with so many people there'd be no point. He could never pick me out with all that blood there, or at least he'd waste hours doing so." Jaune shrugged as if it was an everyday thing.

Elder Wu sighed, staring out across his happy people. "So what now? You return to wherever you're from?"

Jaune hummed noncommitally. "Something like that I suppose, no point in sticking around when I got a 1500 lien cash cow waiting below. But who knows, I might roam for a bit or just take a much needed vacation to Mistral, or Atlas. Somewhere nice and cold."

Jaune's scroll buzzed, he fished it out, took one look, and let out a world-weary sigh.

"Or not, I suppose."

 _"Mr. Arc, we have heard of your exploits across the desert of Vacuo and wish to recruit you in a project of ours. We understand that this is far out of your normal reach but we promise deserved pay and desirable benefits should you accept. If you wish to know more, simply reply and we will charter a bullhead for you to talk more, until then happy hunting and good luck!"_

 _-Barrett Huntington_

 _Nikos Family PR Representative_


	31. Jaune Arc Wants to Live a Quiet Life (2)

**Truthfully, this one could've been better than it was but I got kinda stuck. This is more-or-less a bridge chapter and I hate to leave you guys with such blandness, so instead I'll promise you something better next time.**

 **Hopefully it'll be done by the weekend.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 **Jaune Arc Wants to Live a Quiet Life:**

 **Returning to some semblance of his quiet life, Jaune finds himself troubled by a surprise run-in, and the problems it could bring. Despite this tumultuous outcome, he is certain that fate has sided with him and his life will return to normal soon. However, a group of young hunters could dissuade him of that notion, as they near an unpleasant truth.**

0-0-0-0

"Ruby, we've been walking for hours now!" complained Weiss, throwing her hands into the air. "And we still have no leads, no clues, not even a theory on what happened!"

Ruby hummed at that, unwilling to admit that she had a point. "Well, we still have the police?"

Weiss scoffed. "The police? They wouldn't let us anywhere near Coco or Russel's room, not to mention they don't have any definitive proof either."

"Well, that means they have nothing against Coco right?" Yang asked, peering from behind the heiress's head.

"That's true, but they have enough to cast her in a bad light. If we don't find anything, Coco might be in trouble." Weiss said, scrunching her brow and trying to wrack her brain. "Where did she say their disagreement was? Near the bullhead docks?"

"That right!" Ruby lit up, eyes aglow with enthusiasm. "Surely _someone_ must've seen something, right?"

"Ruby, not to bring you down but the police probably looked over there." Yang sighed, hesitant to crush her sister's enthusiasm.

Ruby wilted slightly, but did not relent. "Well, I mean, what if they decide to talk to huntresses over police? This is a huntress matter, and, if worse comes to worse, we can use my adorable looks!"

"Oh, thank goodness we have a plan then." Weiss muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Blake was noncommittal, having nearly no stake in the whole situation other than this being her team. Even so, she pondered what could've happened to the ragged boy from Team CRDL. While it _was_ a possibility that Coco finally got the little rat back for what he did to Velvet, it just didn't seem like the type of thing Coco was prone to doing, she seemed more like the type to corner you in the hallway and knock your teeth out. Like Yang really.

The hidden faunus supposed that maybe Russel bit off more than he could chew, tangled with the wrong people and lost. As nice as Vale seemed to be it was still a capital city, and that meant there was any number of bad elements especially with Torchwick running around. And, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed likely to Blake that Russel had stumbled upon something he shouldn't have.

Blake was so caught up in her thinking that she bumped straight into a man exiting a department store. Knocking her back and momentarily forgetting her cat-like reflexes, Blake nearly fell until the man in front of her grabbed her elbow.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Blake apologized, her team stopping to look at her.

"It was no problem, accidents happen." came the youthful voice of the man in front of her.

He was blonde, perhaps around her age and looking even younger without any sort of stubble. He was dressed in a blue suit with a green and white striped dress shirt, his tie was rather interesting in that it seemed to be designed with pictures of cat-like skulls all the way down. He dusted himself off before regarding her for a moment, and when he did she felt it.

Her faunus reflexes kicking back in and warning her of something. Of what, she was unsure of; at first, she believed that they were about to be ambushed but shot that down, here, on the street in broad daylight? Instead, it seemed to be coming from this man, and though it was a mere jolt of the senses it conveyed a feeling of coldness, and of a deep pit of roiling emotions submerged beneath a calm surface. It passed as quickly as it came, and the world returned to normal leaving the black-clad faunus with more questions than answers.

"Ooh! Sir! May we have a moment of your time?" Ruby asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The man seemed to consider that, checked his watch, and then nodded.

Ruby beamed. "Oh thank you sir! Anyways, my name is Ruby Rose and I am a huntress of Beacon Academy. I've come here to ask if you've seen any suspicious individuals nearby?"

Blake could've sworn she saw the man's expression go slightly wooden, but disregarded it.

"Individuals? Hmm, I do not believe so. May I ask why?" the young man questioned, folding his briefcase beneath his arm.

"Oh, well, you see. My friend, a second year, is being accused of hurting this one guy named Russel who went missing a few days ago, but they don't know what happened to him so they're just blaming her. Anyways, they think he went missing around here, so maybe you saw him? Kinda short, wears a green vest, trashy looking mohawk, really you couldn't miss him in a crowd."

Ruby finished her rant, leaving the young man slightly bemused before he scratched his chin, yet Blake couldn't help but feel a little off about the action. As if it were plastic, almost programmed into an A.I. of some sort.

"Hmm, no. I do not believe I have ever seen such a man before, but perhaps you could ask someone else?" the man checked his watch. "I apologize, but my girlfriend wanted to meet me in the park and it is rude to keep a lady waiting, ciao."

And with that the man walked off, blending in with the crowd as Ruby muttered a curse. Blake watched the man go, becoming a mere blob in the crowd and yet still maintaining a sort of presence amongst the people around him. Blake felt as though she had felt something like this before, something familiar and yet alien to her all the same.

It almost felt like...

"Yo Blake," Yang interrupted, poking her face in front of her partner's. "Stop spacing out, we have more people to interrogate."

"Question!" Ruby reminded vehemently, to which she was promptly ignored.

"Come on, you heard her." Yang giggled, dragging her partner off for what would no doubt be a hellish day.

0-0-0-0

The door to the small apartment slammed shut, its occupant slamming his own fist against the wall. Jaune's face turned stormy, a dark look clouding his eyes as the veins in his forehead pulsed, a childhood tell of when he was angry. Those brats, how did they catch wind of him? Of course, it was because he was sloppy, he didn't make sure to clear his surroundings.

But, then, what was he supposed to do? Let that green-haired shit just defile his beloved? On that filthy street no less! The very thought made Jaune shudder with rage and disgust, his clenched fist growing even tighter. He needed to calm down, this wasn't unsalvageable, he could still maintain his quiet life as long as he played his cards right. He hadn't given away a single thing from when he talked to them, and, best of all, he knew their faces and the name of at least one of them.

Ruby Rose.

A name that would no doubt be burned into his head until he quieted the cacophony of problems around him. Taking a deep, near shuddering, breath, Jaune undressed and got ready for his evening. He started by creating a simple meal, shrimp fried rice with egg and soy sauce, before sitting down at the table and going over his notes for the day.

Grigio in accounting had stolen Viola's lunch for the past three days. A sign of greed, or something more? It would be worth remembering if it ever came up, and perhaps he could work an advantage out of it. Some light blackmail to cover one of his shifts, nothing more and nothing worth fretting over.

Orabel, his boss, was a whole nother ballpark. She seemed to be increasingly growing into disarray, her once well-kept tie becoming looser and more disheveled, her stockings growing mismatched in height, even her makeup would occasionally be seen slightly smeared. To the naked eye, perhaps this was just fatigue or maybe some stress taking its toll, but with the big budget meeting coming up Jaune suspected his boss had not been very good.

Embezzling, that could prove useful. If he got the right goods he could use that to his advantage, a step up in the company if he played his cards right, maybe even more if he told the right people. Jaune continued to read over his notes, both mental and physical, of his office workers, noting social patterns and changes and planning on how to adapt to them. He couldn't be caught off guard again, he needed to fit seamlessly into the masses to avoid being found out.

And to think, he was going to have a nice weekend with his girlfriend. But now, now how could he ever sleep? Even with a glass of warm milk and his stretches, he'd be a mess if he didn't fix this. Resolving to wait until tomorrow and deciding to break out a Valium, Jaune prepared to go to sleep and try and forget the tumultuous day he had had.

His sleep was plagued with nightmares, of visions of huntsman bursting into his home, callously burning it down and destroying the quiet suburban utopia he had spent so long to build. Every attempt to stop them was met with failure, nothing would slow the vandals down until Jaune used Killer Queen to destroy them, one by one they were obliterated until he woke up in a fit.

"This, will not do." Jaune muttered crazily to himself, a single, bloodshot eye visible beneath his hand. "I must protect my quiet life, at all costs."

It was the weekend, and while originally he wished to spend time out with his girlfriend he now had more pressing issues to deal with. Getting up, he resolved to find the troublesome pests that had intruded his life and finally rid himself of this plague once and for all.

Before exiting the door, Jaune briefly considered calling his father. He lived close enough and had always been the model dad, always supportive and caring even when the truth about his girlfriends was revealed. In fact, his whole family seemed to believe in him despite his odd quirk, some of them even admitting to getting into their own extracurricular activities.

But he brushed the thought aside, he was a young man now and he needed to handle his own problems. Still, these were huntresses and serious ones at that, perhaps he would wait to see how things would play out. For now, the girls had next to nothing on him so he could go a little while longer and observe them to the best of his abilities.

...

 **2 hours later...**

Finding the brats had been simple, the gang of idiots still paraded themselves down around the site of the incident. Jaune crept behind them, years of honing his stalking skills paying off, and stayed just out of their sights. The small one, Ruby, was definitely the leader, she dragged around her friends with a certain energetic zeal that reminded him of his younger sister.

Regardless, the gaggle of apparent huntresses were eager to find the killer of their so-called acquaintance. Luckily they were making almost no progress, however there was no way of knowing how long that would last. Briefly, Jaune considered simply erasing the four of them one-by-one, picking them off when they least expected it, however he waved that away.

Semblance or not, these women were trained huntresses and he was a mere clerical worker. If he messed up even once, they'd kill him without hesitation, and that was assuming he could even get the jump on one. No, he had to be smart about this, the one in black, Blake maybe, was probably the most sensitive and perceptive one of the bunch.

She'd be a problem in the future, but then again that was assuming this whole situation devolved into violence. Perhaps fate had chosen to side with Jaune Arc and he would be allowed to walk away from this scot free. The girls began to walk away after their short break, Jaune's eyes trailing them the whole way down, he couldn't help but notice the blonde one and the white one had such nice hands.

Crude as it was to say he, well, may have gotten a boner from it. But, it was always business before pleasure and he needed to protect his peaceful way of life from any who would intrude into it.

Perhaps he could ask around, plant some red herrings and even frame someone else for it. From the way things sounded, their second year friend was in dire straits and the only candidate to have murdered that green-haired puke.

Perhaps Jaune would even take the time to go to the library and check out some of those book about aura techniques and semblances, maybe he could create a new skill to use against these four huntresses. He might have already had a name...


	32. Valechan Cosmic Anomaly Investigators

**Sorry this is coming out so late, fanfiction was being a major buzzkill and refused to save or upload any drafts. But, on the plus side, this fic has capped 200,000 views you guys! I'm honored, truly. I'll be a bit too busy over the weekend to write anything so I'll have to get it done after that, but for now enjoy this little piece.**

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 **The Valechan Cosmic Anomaly Investigators (VCAI):**

 **In the world of Remnant there exist any number of cosmic anomalies, most of which are incredibly dangerous. Luckily, there is a single school if you could call it that, that exists to investigate, contain, and destroy these dangerous creatures. The school works tirelessly to push back the ever growing horde of alien horrors that seem to emerge everyday. They are the ones that keep this world safe, wherever there may be trouble, you'll find the VCAI.**

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The old woman sat in her antique chair, nervously knitting a sweater for her grandson, or rather trying to keep her mind off the obvious. At every creak of the old house she'd wince and stare anxiously at the ceiling above. She swallowed harshly and continued to knit, humming a tune and trying to distract herself from the various thumps and bumps upstairs.

The suddenness of the door bell nearly sent her into cardiac arrest. Once she calmed down, she quickly moved over to the door, eager to invite her guests, and hopeful saviors, inside. As she opened the door she was greeted by two young men, no more than 18 or 19, standing there with a pair of polite smiles on their faces. They were both dressed in business attire, the blonde one wearing a three piece black suit and matching vest and the Mistrali one wearing a grey suit.

"A-Are you the...?" she trailed off with the question.

The blonde young man nodded and flashed her his badge. "Investigator Arc, ma'am, this is my partner Investigator Ren may we come inside?"

"Oh yes, of course!" she ushered them hurriedly, going to bring them a platter of cookies.

Sitting down on her furniture, the one name Ren opened up a notepad and looked to his partner and then to the old woman.

"Now, Mrs...?" the Investigator Arc began.

"Mrs. Periwinkle, if you please dearie." she said softly, wrinkling her apron in her hands.

"Ok Mrs. Periwinkle, please, tell us when these disturbances began?" Investigator Arc asked, his partner taking down notes.

"Oh, well, it began last month when I was baking for our neighborhood bake sale. It was late at night and I admit I had a glass or two, so I wasn't entirely sure but I could've sworn I heard a loud tumbling from the attic. I thought it may be a raccoon so I went to go investigate, but I swept the entire level and couldn't find anything, so I chalked it up to the wind." the older woman seemed to hesitate. "A-And then, after that, I began to hear strange noises outside my bedroom and up above, sort've like chittering like a cicada makes."

"And this chittering? Did it seem... hostile? Aggressive?" Investigator Ren interrupted, pausing his notes.

Mrs. Periwinkle furrowed her brow. "I-Well I'm not quite sure, young man. I suppose it could have been, they would come quite fast and dissipate rather quickly before I could even track them down. Furthermore, when I would wake up the next day I'd find scratches along my railings and ceiling."

Investigator Ren nodded, still furiously scribbling down notes. He paused and sent a side-long glance at his partner, who in turn seemed to exchange some telepathic message before he began to speak again.

"And these disturbances, have they grown stronger? More prevalent perhaps?" he asked inquisitively.

"Oh yes!" Mrs. Periwinkle nodded vehemently. "They occur at all hours of the day now, to the point where I dread even going upstairs."

And then, as if on cue, a heavy thump could be heard above, accompanied by a series of clacking footfalls. The old woman swallowed dryly, looking over at the determined faces on her two guests.

"Right, and have you caught a glimpse of this intruder?" Investigator Arc asked politely, taking a small bite of a cookie.

"No, well, not entirely. I thought I saw a flash of something out of the corner of my eye, but I dismissed it as paranoia." Mrs. Periwinkle said, now not so certain.

"Yes, can you describe what you saw at all?"

"Well, it appeared to be short, almost like that of a small monkey. And I thought it was crouched upon my antique dresser, but it seemed to flee from my eyesight with extraordinary speed." she bit her lip, trying to dredge up more. "Oh! I believe it was a pale white, or perhaps a gray color and it seemed to have quite the spindly limbs."

"That will be all, Mrs. Periwinkle." Investigator Arc closed, standing up and adjusting his tie. His partner, Investigator Ren, followed suit and waited patiently to follow his colleague's lead.

"W-What do you think it is?" The older woman stammered, slightly put off by the way the blonde man stared intensely above them.

"I believe you have a case of what is called a "Dimensional Shambler" ma'am." Investigator Ren cut in, stowing away his notes. "Quite a nasty business, you were quite right to call us."

"T-They're that bad?" Mrs. Periwinkle asked, her mouth dry as sand.

"Oh yes, had you not gotten to us it might have kidnapped you and taken you to its dimension." Investigator Arc chimed, sending a message on his scroll. "From there they would submerge you into this thick grey ooze native to their dimension and feast upon your soul and flesh."

Mrs. Periwinkle seemed to be on the verge of fainting, a handkerchief raised to her forehead.

Even so, Investigator Arc smiled calmingly. "Do not worry, ma'am, me and my partner are more than enough to protect you. Now, excuse me while I go to the car and collect our necessary tools."

In a moment the blonde investigator returned, a duffel bag in one hand and a shotgun slung over his shoulder. The old woman sucked in a breath, even as the two conversed casually and began to take out items from the bag. Ren reached into the bag and pulled out a small device the size of a pocket watch and unholstered his pistol, adding to the tension.

"M-May I ask you young men, what are you going to do with those?" Mrs. Periwinkle asked, raising an unsteady finger at the weapons.

"Don't worry ma'am, the VCAI will compensate you for any damage." Investigator Arc smiled, loading a shell with a strange marking on it. "We're going to need to destroy that entity real quick."

"S-Should I step outside?" the investigator seemed to mull that over before nodding.

"Yes, if you could please go visit a nearby friend for an hour or so we'll get right back to you." Mrs. Periwinkle nodded and rushed out the door, crossing the street and knocking on her neighbor's door.

"You ready?" Ren asked, flicking the his gun off safety and checking the anomaly tracker. On the radar-like screen, a single red blip told them where their friend was, just around the corner in the upstairs bedroom.

"You know it." Jaune answered, cocking the shotgun and the entity-slaying ammo. Silently, he thanked god for the R&D department back home. "What's the plan, you throw up and barrier and I distract it?"

Ren nodded silently, his psychic powers showing in a small pink sheen across his body. No matter how many times he would see it, Jaune could never get over the fact that his partner was an actual psychic. Not even mentioning how useful the guy was, the shit looked cool as fuck when he did it.

The two crept up and outside the wood door, faint scratching and chittering could be heard inside. Giving a silent countdown, Ren placed a hand on the door and focused his energy, imagining an impenetrable wall around the room. The pink sheen seem to extend from his hand and cover the door, no doubt enveloping the walls and causing the entity to grow nervous.

The two of them pressed against the door, Jaune giving a curt nod before he kicked it open. Instantly, he caught a glimpse of the short, gray creature as it skittered away from its perch atop a dresser. Jaune fired a single slug at the gray blur, catching the side of it if only barely. He could hear the roar of agony and anger the creature gave as his partner rolled in a fired a round towards the darting form.

Honed reflexes watched for the cosmic horror, its form barely visible as it scrambled about trying to get away. Then, it happened, the creature slipped up on one of its jumps, making it just a fraction slower but it was enough. Aiming the barrel of the shotgun towards the warped mass, Jaune let loose a single slug that slammed into where the creature's ribs would be if it had any. With a gurgling cry the beast fell to the floor, thick gray ooze slowly congealing into a puddle around it.

No matter how many times he'd do this, Jaune didn't think he'd ever get over how fucked up some things were. The dimensional shambler looked like if someone took a child, turned it inside out and colored it gray. The result was a malformed, knotted form of flesh and sinew and the corpse stunk like rotting garbage. Absently, Jaune asked himself why everything not from Remnant was so goddamned horrible.

"Ren, you mind calling it in?" Jaune asked, idly poking the corpse with the gun. Ren nodded and fished out his scroll, opening a menu he made a call back to headquarters to report their mission.

"This is Car 47, Investigator Arc and Ren, mission is a success we had a code 31-34 at one Mrs. Periwinkles house. Requesting cleanup crew and sterilization as well as additional investigators." Ren spoke casually, whacking his partner to stop him from poking the body.

"Understood Investigator, secure the scene, personnel will be there shortly." a sweet voice came from the other end. The two investigators taped off the scene and warded off any curious visitors, local police arriving to help them. When the clean up crew and additional investigators arrived they were let off to enjoy the rest of the day before they went back to base.

In the car, Jaune decided to phone in back to his dorm mates. The scroll rang twice before it was picked up, a small pause as the sound of rustling could be heard on the other end.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, Ren flicking a curious eye at him.

"Oh, hold on-! And there we go!" Pyrrha said, finishing whatever she was doing. "Sorry, putting the finishing touches on a little project."

"Good to know," Jaune smiled. "Anyway, Ren and I just completed our call and we gonna pick up some doughnuts, want us to bring you home one?"

"Oh ugh," Pyrrha hummed for a moment before shouting to their other roommate the same question. "I think I'll take, ugh, maybe like a jelly one? If they have it?"

"Ok, and Nora-?" he was cut off by a yell over the line.

"Get me a dozen plain!" shouted their bubbly roommate, Pyrrha snorting a small laugh.

"You heard the lady." she giggled. "See you home guys, drive safely."

"Ugh actually I was thinking about driving very unsafely. You know, doing drifts and whatnot." Pyrrha gave a sarcastic laugh at his quip before saying goodbye. The two investigators continued their way down to the local town's doughnut shop, entering in and giving a nod to the sole worker.

After grabbing their food the two young men decided to sit down for a moment and chat. It wasn't very often they got breaks, it always seemed to be that somewhere, at any time, some godforsaken cosmic horror was descending upon a small town.

"So, you think the shambler was alone?" Jaune Arc, a rookie investigator, asked to his partner, fiddling with a coffee straw.

"Hmm," Lie Ren, fellow rookie investigator, rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. "I like to think so, the creature already seemed stressed and upset. Furthermore, given the fact that it hadn't abducted Mrs. Periwinkle in a few months I'd imagine it didn't have the manpower necessary."

"Cleverly deduced my friend, that one of your psychic abilities?" Jaune playfully mocked, causing Ren to smirk.

"No, I just pay attention to the professors, in class, and just in general really." He paused, as though in thought for a moment. "Honestly, you should try it sometime."

"Oh, hahahaha." Jaune grumbled, widening his partner's smirk. "Let's get home shall we, I think I need a shower."

"As a friend and nearby person, trust me, you do." Ren was "playfully" punched in the arm and the two left the small shop.

On the way back, Jaune stared idly out of the window of the sleek black car, mind adrift. It felt like so long ago that he had enrolled in Beacon Academy, a young buck with nothing to prove but his own merit. Of course, his entire family balked at the idea of him fighting monsters and his mother alone barely even let him out the door on the first day. But now, he was well on the way to being a full-time Senior Investigator and taking the fight to the nasty things that crawl around in the darkest reaches of space.

The thought went sour at that. Those damned creatures, shamblers, shoggoths, the Hounds of Tindalos, and any number of other disgusting, disturbing, and mind-breaking beings that lurked where no man should tread. The school he studied at, more of a government branch really, the VCAI, Valechan Cosmic Anomaly Investigators, were a school made up of primarily two departments. His department, the investigators, were the select agents that were personally sent out to track, record, and kill anything that fell outside the norm these days. The other department, the researchers, would catalogue, study, and experiment on whatever they could get their hands on in an attempt to combat these alien beings.

Already, the boys and girls back at R&D had developed this new type of ammo to be used out in the field. They called them "dust rounds" and they were filled with this magical powder that could be mass produced, the powder seemed to be toxic to any and all cosmic anomalies that any investigator had come across. More than that, certain quantities of one type of dust in a single shell or bullet could produce a wide variety of elemental effects. Anything from freezing shots to electrical bullets, the dust rounds were the most versatile weapon in an investigators arsenal.

"You spacing out?" Ren asked idly from the driver's seat, cruising down the road.

"A little, just thinking about how crazy this all is in retrospect." Jaune muttered, a bored hand jammed into his cheek.

"What? The part where we kill monsters or that we have to kill monsters dressed like 40s-era gangsters?" Ren asked cheekily, striking a jab at the odd dress code.

Jaune was inclined to agree, it was a little strange that investigators _had_ to be in formal clothing during their missions, even though it may have been better to create a uniform. Although, things weren't all bad, their clothing, while in formal style, were created with both comfort and flexibility in mind. Down to their shoes, an investigators outfit was designed to be as protective and uncumbersome as possible in the field. The material, made by R&D, bless them, was stretchy, insulated, and tougher than steel when it came to wear and tear.

This meant an investigator could easily run down a suspect in a pair of clunky-looking loafers or trek through a muddy swamp without damage to the expensive appearance of the fabric. It was actually impressive how much thought was put into training and keeping track of the agents under the VCAI, they were all mandated to take vitamin and nutrient supplements with all their three meals that would strengthen themselves and their bodies. But that was nothing compared to the select few people like his partner in crime.

Psychics were found centuries ago in lands of old and myth, but they had stayed prevalent ever since then. People like Lie Ren, could channel their body's "aura" energy to produce a versatile number of techniques and skills handed down through the ages. There was the average stuff like telekinesis and energy sensing, but when one got to the level of control that Jaune's partner did, they could produce barriers, read emotions, sense vibrations in the air, and even read minds amongst other things. In comparison to some magic bullets and pills, Jaune felt a little outclassed by his bro-friend sometimes, but he knew that Ren would never be one to get a big head.

"Bet you're happy to see Nora again, huh Ren?" Jaune quipped, pretending to clean his nails.

"Hmm? Oh yes, Nora of course." Ren answered, pretending as though he hadn't truly been listening.

Nora was Ren's best friend since he discovered his psychic powers. Ren's parents were quick to enroll their son into the VCAI lest he get attacked by some unsavory figures or lash out with his powers without meaning too. Originally, Nora was supposed to be his staunch bodyguard, a protector for an important person, but things kind of devolved once they and Jaune and Pyrrha were bunked together.

The four had quickly become friends, lending eachother a helping hand where necessary and often times getting mixed up with their neighboring room's hijinks. Pyrrha was an all-star champion, sponsorships, TV deals, movies, the works, but she surprised everyone when she declared that she wished to become an investigator and to claim her own path in life. Jaune could respect that, hell the girl was probably the best damn warrior in their entire year, but he appreciated her for who she was more than anything, Pyrrha Nikos was a sometimes adorkable-sometimes motherly best friend and roommate to them.

"Thinking about Pyrrha?" Ren asked, taking a left along a back road.

"How'd you know?"

"Psychic powers, I could feel you emotions. And perhaps I saw your tent..." He trailed off, Jaune not quite catching on for a moment before he suddenly bolted up straight and readjusted his tie.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Jaune denied adamantly, a thin dust of pink covering his cheeks.

"It's fine Jaune, you know that she..." He trailed off again, as if trying to find what to say before he sighed. "Nevermind, let's just go back to listening to music."

Jaune groaned and fell back, he loved Ren, truly, he was a brother and dear family, but the guy had such bad music taste. For some reason, he liked the worse parts about country and chill music, the slowest, most boring and drawn out songs that could make an outer god want to commit seppuku.

After a few hours of torturous music and banter, the two young investigators finally arrived back at Beacon Academy, the familiar stone columns and arches providing some comfort to the two weary men.

"Hey Jaune!" came a plucky voice to his side as they walked into the locker room. Ruby Rose, a rookie investigator like him, came speeding up in front of him with a big smile on her face. "How'd it go?"

"Dimensional shambler." Jaune replied back with a tired smile.

Ruby made a face. "Ugh, I hate those things. All those weird limbs and the grey skin, ugh it's just so gross."

"You're telling me, anyways did you see Professor Port anywhere, I've gotta give him our report." Jaune asked, Ruby rolled his eyes and gestured to a door behind her reading "Professor Port" and under it "Tracking and Capture Studies".

After giving the older professor his report, and having to endure a 20 minute long story, Jaune was about ready to pass out on the nearest comfortable surface. Heading back to the dorms with his friend, the two were almost immediately jumped by Nora who clambered over the two of them to get at her doughnuts. As Jaune watched the ginger girl devour the pastries without mercy, a soft hand tapped his shoulder.

"Have fun?" Pyrrha asked, a knowing grin on her lips.

"Yeah, nothing like hunting small monsters to brighten my day." Jaune said just a tad sarcastically, his redheaded roommate rolled her eyes and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

"That's my favorite investigator." Pyrrha giggled, Jaune giving a mocking laugh.

"Well, I'm about to cash out for the rest of the day. Read some comic books, change into my jammies, and-" he was cut off by the intercom giving a high-pitched whine before a voice came over it.

 _"Will all investigators immediately report to the atrium, this is not a drill I repeat this is not a drill."_ the intercom whined to a close, Jaune groaning in agony as he was forced to stand back up.

"What do you think that was about?" Ren asked, concerned.

"I don't know, but I can't imagine it being too good." Pyrrha responded, getting into her clothes as Nora sloppily threw on hers.

"Let's go, this'll be fun!" Nora cheered, running out the door with Ren in tow.

Well, the mood in the atrium was not fun in the least. Professors hurried back and forth, and the only one remaining motionless was Headmaster Ozpin and Deputy Headmistress Glynda, although even she was making phone calls. Once the assembly of a couple hundred investigators were seated, an ocean of stoic faces gazing at the headmaster and eachother, the headmaster slowly cleared his throat.

"I understand that what I am about to say will be troubling, even horrifying, but I ask that you remain calm and do not speak." The grey-haired man said, increasing the tension in the room. "This morning, we confirmed the reports that an outer god was in position to enter our world, more specifically a place known as Dunwich."

You could have heard a pin drop, the air was ice and all motioned seemed to cease. Headmaster Ozpin, seeing no one was inclined to talking, continued on with a steely look.

"We have brought all of you here today to be the first expeditionary force into Dunwich. We have asked all of you to act as the defenders of mankind for perhaps the most important part of your career, even after you leave this school." he continued, dauntless. "The outer god we believe to be summoned in the town, is known as Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of a Thousand Young."

A few of the rookie investigators seemed to be on the verge of fainting, while others sat white-faced at the implications.

"We have received full support from the Atlesian military, and you will all be supplied with the latest technology from our R&D department." Professor Peach, the head of R&D, spoke up, trying to quell discontent.

Ozpin nodded, thankful for the intrusion. "Know this, it is very likely, even certain, that some of you will die on this mission, I will not sugarcoat that. But let me tell you from experience if even a single outer god can be fully summoned to our plane of reality it will bring destruction and havoc beyond your wildest nightmares. I understand the sheer magnitude of this, no one better, but the world needs you to act as their defenders, their warriors against this tide of darkness."

There was a pause, and Headmaster Ozpin seemed to age hundred years in the short reprieve. "You will all be divided into companies with your roommates first and then fellow investigators, we will have a mix of all years as well as professionals. The bullhead leaves tonight, you will all be supplied from the armory. Godspeed."

As one, the investigators stood up and saluted before rushing out the door to the locker rooms, their dorms, and the armory. Jaune felt a steely hand grip his shoulder, turning to find Ren looking to him for guidance.

"Well?" he asked, as if there was any choice.

"Get to the armory, we need to get weapons." Jaune shouted over the crowd, Nora and Pyrrha following them. This was going to be a hell of a field trip...


	33. The Most Dangerous Game (2)

**The Most Dangerous Game:**

 **Jaune has been given a new chance at life, a former gladiator thrust into the world of a huntsman. Even though his soul still searches for freedom, it is undeniable that a piece of him was left in The Pit. Given a new team, and a new name, Jaune must make use of his skills in a line of work he never thought he'd find himself in.**

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"-And this will be your temporary room." Headmaster Lionheart said politely, gesturing towards a dorm-like room. It had all the necessary essentials, bathroom and shower included, and a nice overview of the main courtyard of Haven Academy.

"Looks nice." Jaune commented, the aura binds on his hands jingling slightly. "But, hasn't the school year started or something? Shouldn't this be an issue?"

"If the school year had started, yes, but I'm afraid you a good 2 weeks early young man. We still have plenty of time." the Mistral headmaster chuckled, tail swishing behind him slightly. "Speaking of which, this might be a good time to integrate you to the staff here."

It was spoken more to himself than to his charge, who stood there looking quite out of place, following the esteemed Leonardo Lionheart bound in reinforced handcuffs. Jaune had provided the authorities with as much as possible, which wasn't a whole lot considering there wasn't much need to tell the champion in the first place, and had been deemed fit for service after a short psychiatric evaluation.

"Ok, ugh, sounds dandy, but, ugh, there might be a slight problem." Jaune began, cocking his head.

"What? Your outfit? I've already picked a new one out? Your weapon that Taiyang broke?" Jaune gritted his teeth, if he ever got his hands on that asshole again he'd- "That is currently being replaced with something I've personally commissioned. Or, is it your name?"

That last part caused Jaune to falter in his steps behind the headmaster. "Wha-? My name, what about it?"

Truth be told he'd never given his name much thought. To him, it was always more of a title, a calling card, than an actual personal identification. That's not to say he wasn't open to some changes, his brand had died an ugly death along with The Warzone and he wasn't exactly partial to his surname either. Still, something about it just... bugged him, not in a bad way but it brought with it an unfamiliar emotion.

He didn't know how to feel about it.

"Well, the council wished to avoid anyone tracing you back to this whole fiasco, so instead I've been given permission to make an alteration." Leonardo waved his concerns away. "Besides, I've always kinda wanted a son. My duties prevented me from ever achieving as such, but with you-"

"Wait a moment," Jaune interrupted, raising his still caged hands. "You're making it sound like you're..."

"Adopting you?" the headmaster supplied before giving a light chuckle. "And, yes, in a way I am. Although, only in name if you feel uncomfortable about it. This will help cement yourself as a student of Haven, and I assure you that very few of the students here will cross you if they think you may be related to me."

"Well-I mean that I..." he paused, as if trying to find the correct words to say. "No, I don't mind being...adopted per se. But, are you sure this ok?"

"Hmm? Are you asking if I am ok with it?" Lionheart said with some amusement. "Yes, I am perfectly fine with this, Jaune Lionheart."

"Jaune Lionheart..." Jaune whispered the name, it felt a little clunky but more than doable. "Y-Yeah, sounds good pops."

"Pops?" the older man chuckled. "That's new."

"Well, if you're going to be my adoptive dad, might as well treat you as such." Jaune shrugged, and in that moment Lionheart paused his casual gait, turning to eye his now-adopted son fully.

There was a slight film of almost translucent water that covered the headmaster's eyes, but with a blink it dissipated. "Well, I suppose it is time to meet with your new professors. Ah, that reminds me, how good are you with a sword and shield...?"

...

"I am the Deputy Headmaster Turchino, it is a pleasure to greet you." the sunkist and aged man in front of him said, extending his hand. "I will be leading your combat studies for the duration of your stay here."

"Nice to meet you professor." Jaune said, just a tad awkwardly, as he took his hand.

"Hello! I am Professor Tavish!" a cheery woman butted in, her milk bottle glasses and tussled brown hair accentuating the disheveled lab coat. She bowled over Professor Turchino and shoved a hand in front of her. "I'm the chemistry and dust studies teacher here. Tell me young man, are you versed in dust-based combat?"

"Ugh- I mean yeah, I've had a lot of practice and I-" Jaune was cut off by the brunette woman.

"Wonderful! Oh splendid! This is quite the catch Headmaster, to think you got someone who is an expert- neigh, a master of dust!" seeing Jaune's overwhelmed look, Headmaster Lionheart got between them.

"He is not a "master of dust" Professor, he is proficient but in need of some teaching. Please, do not subject him to any experiments he is not prepared for." the old headmaster said a little tiredly.

"Hey, what experiments is she-"

"Oh yeah yeah," Jaune went ignored. "I wasn't going to make _that_ mistake again. Anyways, I hope we can be a good duo, master and student and all that jazz, and if you ever need help with your weapon come see me. I had a hand in designing it."

"My weapon? It utilizies dust?" Jaune asked, cocking his head to the side.

"What? You haven't told him Leo? How irresponsible!" Professor Tavish, an aghast and almost offended look on her face, asked.

"It isn't done, I wanted it to be a surprise Tav." Leonardo sighed, rubbing his brow. "I will show him its current process after this."

With that, the duo left the faculty room, Headmaster Lionheart introducing him to a few other teachers he'd need to know, such as Professor Pontus Vasilias, the history teacher, and then taking him down to the school's armory. It was a grand place, a mix between something reminiscent of The Warzone's forge and something far more elaborate with tubing of dust and circuitry pervading the room, and in the center sat a mammoth of man hammering away at an incomplete sword.

"This is Professor Akihiko, the head of our armory and smithy, but most just call him Aki." Headmaster Lionheart explained calmly. The man, roused by the headmaster's voice, looked up and grunted a greeting to the boy. "He will be in charge of the development of your new weapon."

"Speaking of which," Jaune interrupted, the handcuffs, that were still attached, jingling. "what is my weapon?"

"Ah yes, well, it isn't quite done yet but allow me to show you some blueprints and designs." the headmaster said jovially, running off to gather said blueprints before returning in a moment. "Here you go."

Well, whatever could be said for it, it wasn't simple that was for sure. It wasn't a mecha-shifting weapon in truth, but more of an integration of two, or three depending on your take, weapons. It was a sword and shield combo, but the shield itself was the most complex part of it. The shield was in a heater design, but, in the center of it, there was a large gothic-style cross with holes on the top three spokes of it. Just behind the cross, however, was what truly caught Jaune's eye: a roulette-style dust wheel that seemed to be able to spin and produce different dust effects based on the situation.

"Impressive, no? I had it modeled after my own weapon, but at first I thought it may have been a bit much-"

"It's perfect." Jaune whispered, earning a proud smile from the older man.

"I'm glad you think so." Lionheart chuckled, Jaune's eyes roaming over the rest.

The sword itself was similar to his old one, but it seemed to be colored in hues of brown and red like his shield. The crossguard was a bronze-color which matched the base of the hilt, but the hilt itself seemed to be woven with a brown leather. His shield, barring the large grey cross, was much of the same with the trim of it being a bronze-gold color while the fill was more of a reddish-brown. Overall, the weapon looked stylish, strong, and deadly beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"It turns into a sheath too, for convenience." Headmaster Lionheart added on, smirking when Jaune's eyes widened slightly. "You kids today and your love of weaponry."

"I love pops, this is the best birthday gift you could've gotten me." Lionheart raised an eyebrow at that.

"It's your birthday?"

"No, that's still 8 months away but I think this counts." Lionheart laughed at that and clapped a hand on his son's shoulder.

"That's good to hear, saves me the trouble of _actually_ getting you something!" the old man laughed again. "I was worried you were no good with a sword and shield, but some of the videos recovered, and your own outlandish stories, proved me wrong."

"This'll be no problem pops, but, ugh, do you mind?" Jaune asked, gesturing to the cuffs around his hands.

"Oh, of course silly me." Headmaster Lionheart withdrew a key and unlocked the heavy restraints letting Jaune rub his sore wrists.

"Not that I was going to, but you know I could've tried attacking you right?" Jaune asked cheekily, surprised to see the headmaster grin back at him.

"Well, son, I would've mopped the floor with you. The staff would've mopped the floor with you, and your emotions didn't give way to the fact you were planning a betrayal." a flicker of something flashed across his face before it disappeared.

"You can read me that well?" Jaune questioned, cocking his head.

"No, but I am an empath." the old headmaster winked, motioning for his protege to follow him back upstairs. "Now, about your enrollment..."

0-0-0-0

 **Two weeks later...**

Haven's combat ring was aglow with the sounds of battle, steel clashing against steel as blades clashed. In the ring, a young man dressed in a tan jacket and with brone wrist guards battled fiercely against an older man wielding a guandao.

"Good, good. You need to cover you front more." the blue-haired man said, jabbing his spear into the shield of the younger man.

The dust wheel spun with a series of clicks, an 8-pointed star glyph appearing layered over it, before a fireball ignited from the burn dust within. The older warrior cleaved it in half and barely caught the sword swipe that followed, his opponent keeping low to the ground as he swung for his feet. The older man danced backwards, using the shaft of the spear as a pole vault to gain some distance.

The two caught their breath, the blue-haired man wiping some sweat from his brow as his younger opponent shifted his stance slightly. The dust wheel in the younger man's shield spun once, matching with the yellow dust, before spinning again and landing on the ice dust. Suddenly, a flurry of electrified icicles burst forth and whistled towards the man, aiming to turn him into a conductive swiss cheese.

The older man smirked and stomped hard onto the ground once, the gravity dust woven into his boots providing a shockwave that sent the flurry off course and stumbled the boy. Seeing an opening, the aged warrior leapt for it and cleaved a wide arc with his spear, his foe barely arching back in time. Even so, his footing was loose and the older man took advantage, swiping his legs out from under him and placing the tip of his spear onto the blonde boy's chest.

"Impressive work, Mr. Lionheart, you will have no issue qualifying." Professor Pontus Vasilias praised, helping the boy up. "Even so, as a teacher, I must recommend you remember to keep your footing squared, and do not wait for an opponent's attack to come to you. You must analyze these threats and react accordingly, lest you bust your ass again."

Jaune Lionheart chuckled, accepting a hand as he was lifted. "Still though, I'm getting better with my shield."

"That you are." a voice interrupted, the Headmaster of Haven Academy striding forth. "I am impressed with your competency with that weapon of yours."

"Hey pops, you got off work?" Jaune asked, flipping his shield back into its sheath form and dusting himself off.

The boy's adopted father smiled and snorted. "Not quite, but I thought it best that I come see you before tomorrow's events."

"You mean the Labyrinth?" Jaune asked, Haven's own form of deciding who was good enough to study at the academy.

"No, just in general lad." Lionheart patted his son's back, taking a moment to check on him. In the two weeks since coming here, the boy had adjusted quite well to his new life. There were still some issues regarding his... mentality towards approaching fights, but it didn't seem so bad compared to the alternative.

Forgoing his gladiator gear, Jaune had changed into a simple tan jacket with a grey hood, a black shirt and bandoleer, along with his jeans and boots. A pair of bronze wrist guards providing some extra armor just in case, and his weapon, which he had taken to calling "Auburn Flair", sheathed at his hip. Over all, the boy looked prepared for his first day of school, and it made Lionheart proud.

Of course, there'd been a slight fuss about naming the boy after his own family, but he had silenced those pesky naysayers soon enough. Headmaster Lionheart ruffled his boy's hair and began to return back to his office along with his deputy, before he left he did make one final remark.

"Oh yes, Jaune, please do not be upset if you aren't chosen as a leader." he asked with faux sincerity.

"Trust me, the less work the better!" Jaune gave a thumbs-up, before returning back to the locker room. Once inside, he quickly undressed and got into a much needed shower.

The soothing abilities of the hot water allowed Jaune to think for moment, truth be told he _was_ nervous at the prospect of having to work with four people for almost the rest of his life. While it was true that most professional huntsman struck out on their own for most missions, teams tended to stick together for a long time, especially if they could build a family at some point.

The Warzone had never encouraged teamwork, or rather, it never encouraged teamwork in the usual sense. The Warzone favored shaky alliances that usually ended with a backstab than a group of people working towards something for each other's benefit. Gods, it must have been at least 3 or 4 years since Jaune had actually had to be a part of a real team.

Jaune sighed and pressed his head against the tiles, he supposed there was no use getting cold feet at this point. Finishing his shower he dried off and decided to loiter around the now-empty classrooms, walking around the school idly.

"Hey there, heard you got your ass kicked by my dad!" came a jeering voice from behind.

Jaune turned around and his lips flipped into a smirk. "Neptune, shouldn't you be getting rejected by some women?"

Despite the words, the two shared a fist bump with eachother. Neptune had been the first guy around his age to be introduced to him in the school, his dad, being a professor, helped get the two to talk and they soon became friends. Neptune liked to hit on girls in his spare time that had earned him no small share of punches and kicks to the groin, and yet he never seemed to learn his lesson.

"You excited for initiation tomorrow?" Neptune asked, strutting alongside his blonde friend. "Heard from my dad that it's usually a pretty intense affair."

"I hope so, wouldn't want it to be too easy for a master like me." Jaune boasted, stretching his arms behind his head. "Who knows, we might end up on a team where you'll be a slave to my every whim."

Neptune scoffed at the very thought. "Who says you would be the leader? My dad might just see the overflowing potential in me and choose me to lead the team."

Jaune shrugged and gave a hapless smile. "Eh, it doesn't matter if you're the leader or not, you're kinda beta y'know."

"Wha-? I-I am not a beta!" Neptune spluttered, outraged at his friend who gave another shrug. "Man, screw you. It's no wonder that no girls wanna get with you."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Jaune snorted, causing Neptune to grumble to himself about blonde bastards.

"Oh whatever you giant edgelord, I'm going back to my room and playing some video games. Have fun being by yourself." Neptune waved at him, turning on his heel and into the courtyard.

"Oh yeah," Jaune called after him. "by the way, Aerith dies!"

"La La La! I can't hear you!" Neptune shouted back, fingers plugging his ears.

Jaune chuckled at his misfortune and continued his rounds, taking in the slowly setting sun as it filled the halls. Reaching the main hall, Jaune cast a look out of the massive glass window that seemed to fill the wall and admire the beauty of the coastal sea as the sun glimmered off of it. Mistral was a truly beautiful place when the denizens weren't out to murder you and the Grimm weren't trying to break down the door.

Gazing out the window, Jaune reminisced about times spent in The Warzone. The school therapist, Miss Rosemary, said it wasn't healthy to try and dredge up the past and, worse, linger on it. However, Jaune was inclined to disagree, he had plenty of fond memories from that pit of blood and glory. He had been raised there all his life, Chili, Bruno, Vulcan, even The Director to an extent were... friends if he thought on it.

They had raised him when his own family didn't want to, true he had to fight to the top but it had all been worth it. There was no gain without sacrifice, and the bigger the gain the larger the sacrifice. Jaune had spent every waking our either clawing his way to the top and staying there, or enjoying the perks of coming out top of the heap above all others.

 _I wonder how Chili and the others are doing_ he thought to himself, an elbow planted on the window sill. Knowing Chili, he was already in the middle of cooking up another back-alley scam or going back to playing at assassin again.

Jaune shook his head, dislodging the memories. This was his new life now, the better one where he wasn't forced to watch his back at every moment, constantly searching for anyone who might usurp his control. The feeling of manually letting his guard down at all hours, of not second guessing every look and glance, was both agonizingly uncomfortable and beyond freeing simultaneously.

"It'll be fine Jaune, you'll get a new team and a new chapter in your book." he whispered to himself. The Director often thought of life coming to one in chapters, where one story arc may end another inevitably begins, and with it development of both mind and body.

"No man can walk out of his own destiny." Jaune reminded himself, shrugging himself off the window sill and returning to his dorm. His father would be working almost all night and he needed some rest before tomorrow, lest he end up falling asleep in the middle of initiation.

Before reaching his room, Jaune stopped off at the locker room one more time to inspect his weapon. Auburn Flair stood quietly in his locker, the newly made blade waiting to be unsheathed once again by its owner. Running a hand along the wheel and spinning it slowly, Jaune thought about how, in a few years, this weapon would almost be like a second skin. A companion that had been through thick and thin alongside his teammates and friends, and he thought about how he may look back years from now on this precise moment.

At the cusp of becoming a hunter, of starting down a road that may kill him. The idea filled him with a sort of... nostalgia, almost, of memories that hadn't happened quite yet and experiences yet to come. In his mind, he could see himself standing alongside his friends as a professional huntsman, in it he was alongside a faceless woman and a pair of faceless kids. An admirable life by any means, and one he could still yet strive to achieve.

Closing the locker softly, Jaune finally returned to his room to hit the hay a little earlier. His reminiscing taking far longer than he thought, the sun had dipped below the golden sea and night had consumed the capital city. Getting changed and laying down into the soft bed, Jaune was quickly pulled away into the realm of sleep where memories flashed through his mind.

 _"...Get up kid... You're no good to us dead..."_

 _"...Come on Jaune... You think we got all day...?"_

 _"...A disappointment... that's why we're doing this..."_

 _"...Fight like you're about to die... and you want to be a pain in the ass before then..."_

 _"...You're new Champion..."_

 _"...Jaune Arc!"_

0-0-0-0

Jaune awoke with a start, his alarm clock blaring its warning that he needed to wake up. Blearily smacking his hand to stop the incessant chirping, Jaune rolled over to check the time. He groaned when it was revealed that he had only 4 minutes before he needed to get dressed, the former gladiator rolled out of the comfy sheets and stumbled his way into the bathroom.

Splashing some water into his face, Jaune sighed at the prospect of the day. Getting dressed into his huntsman gear, Jaune reported down to the cafeteria where, already, bustling crowds of prospective students walked back and forth talking to eachother.

Jaune caught Neptune's eye and his blue-haired friend waved him over. Getting a plate of food and going to sit down, Jaune grabbed a seat next to a blonde monkey faunus who was currently decimating was appeared to be the school's entire stock of banana bread. Neptune gave one of those "cool guy nods" which was promptly undercut by the sounds of their third wheel so-to-speak scarfing down his breakfast.

"Right, ugh," Neptune began, scratching at his temple in annoyance with his cool guy persona be interrupted. "This is Sun Wukong, a faunus from Vacuo."

" _Shup_!" Sun mumbled, his mouth overflowing with half-chewed banana bread. " _Em Shun_!"

"Nice to meet ya dude." Jaune said, holding out a fist that Sun gladly bumped with a smile. "Y'all ready for this initiation?"

Sun swallowed his mouthful and sighed in satisfaction. "You know it dude, this'll be easy compared to wrestling baby deathstalkers in the desert!"

To anyone else it may have been an empty boast or a joke, but the way the blonde faunus smiled at some unmentioned memory said otherwise.. _Who knows,_ Jaune thought with a shrug _I guess things in Vacuo get weird_.

"-Mind if we sit with you lads?" came a cheery, heavily accented voice to the right of them. A somewhat androgynous looking boy along with a green-haired and muscled companion stood at the end of their table.

Sun scooted over to allow the pale boy with red hair a seat while his larger friend slumped down next to Neptune that rattled the table. The bigger guy began to tuck in to his food while the pale one with the red hair seemed to search for some words to say.

"So," he began. "I'm Scarlet David, and the big stoic guy is Sage Ayana, we're first years!"

"Of course we are, we all are." Sage deadpanned, not looking up from his meal.

"R-Right." Scarlet said a tad nervously, he bowed his head and returned to his food.

Seeing the boy's downtrodden mood, Sun clapped a hand onto his shoulder with a bright smile. "Eh don't worry about it man, we're all gonna be hunters-in-training after today so we should all get along!"

"Y-Yeah, that works with me mates!" Scarlet bounced in his seat slightly, a new excitement in his eyes.

"Alright, sounds like a whole lotta fun." Neptune said coolly, leaning back and nearly falling.

"This'll be good, I'm sure of it." Jaune mumbled, catching Sage's eye and causing him to smirk slightly.

"Aye, I suppose it could do no wrong." Sage said, gobbling down a sausage patty.

Jaune chuckled and the five of them continued to talk to eachother while things in the Labyrinth were being prepared. Scarlet was originally from the northeastern parts of Mistral, near Wind Path. Sun and Sage came from Vacuo, although their regions differed with Sun being from central Vacuo, near Oasis, while Sage hailed from the southwest, near Ozymandias.

Neptune recounted tales of being raised in the Academy while Jaune scrambled to make a somewhat believable cover story. Mentally he was kicking himself for not coming up with an _actual_ story besides the shoddy one he threw together that was so full of holes it would make for a better Grimm's fairy tale.

"So, you mean to tell me that you're actually the adopted son of Headmaster Lionheart?" Scarlet asked, leaning forward to study the boy more.

"Ugh... Yes?" Jaune answered, throwing on a smile that seemed painful.

"That's... So freaking cool man!" Scarlet near-shouted, pumping his hands into the air. "To think that Headmaster Lionheart would take you in after finding out you had no family. More than that, we get to sit here and talk with the actual _son_ of the headmaster!"

"Yeah, that's pretty cool." Sun agreed, ignoring how Scarlet shook him in excitement.

"Yeah, that _is_ pretty cool. Right, Jaune?" Neptune jerked his chin towards his friend with a stupid smirk on his face.

Jaune sent him a small look that could wither flowers before returning to the somewhat more natural smile. "Yeah, he's a cool dude when you get to know him. Has a thing for antique china though, got a whole collection in his office."

Suddenly, the school's intercom crackled to life. _"Will all incoming students please report to the basement for partner selection. Thank you."_

"Well, that's our cue." Neptune said, dusting himself off and getting up.

The others did the same and continued their talk while walking down to the basement, brushing past a few early upperclassmen and supervising teachers. At one point Jaune nearly tripped over his friend's heel and was shoved into a young tiger faunus girl who rounded on him with the fires of hell in her eyes.

"Watch it, _pal_!" she accentuated the "pal" with a finger jabbed hard into his chest. "Unless you want me to crush your head like a grape."

Jaune fought down a scowl and opted to laugh nervously, hands raised. "Yeah, sorry it was my bad."

She gave a small "hmph" and crossed her arms. "You're right, it was. Imagine what would happen if you stepped on my tail? You do know all faunus tails are connected to their spines right? What am I saying? Of course you don't."

"Hey!" Jaune said indignantly. "I did too."

And he truly did, it was a common weak point for faunus gladiators. In fact, he had almost never met a single faunus gladiator with a tail, or at least one still fully intact.

"Sure, have fun at initiation and try not to screw up. You'll make me look bad." she flicked her curly black hair back and melded away into the crowd.

"Pfft, bitch." Jaune muttered.

"Yeah, you're telling me." Sun's voice aparrated from behind him, causing the blonde champion to jolt. "Thought she was about to skin you there for a second. I was hoping I wouldn't have to jump in."

"Yeah, what's her problem anyway?" Jaune asked, scowling in the direction she disappeared into. "She acted like I insulted her lineage or something."

Sun gave a rather uncomfortable shrug. "I dunno man, I think maybe she thought you were doing it because she was a faunus? Like I said, I'm not too keen at picking up on chicks y'know?"

"Right." Jaune nodded, returning back to his group as they entered through the large gate-like doors to the atrium of the basement.

It was a large, near barren room surrounded on all sides by soulless concrete. Directly in front of them were arch-like entrances cut into the stone, offering a tunnel deeper inside and into the Labyrinth.

In the center, Deputy Headmaster Turchino awaited on a podium, flanked by Professor Vasilias and Professor Tavish. Jaune imagined his dad would probably handle whoever made it out after initiation.

Professor Turchino cleared his throat and the group of students settled.

"Young huntsman and huntresses in training, I welcome you to the most important day of your lives: initiation." There were some whoops at that, but the professor quieted them with a look. "As I was saying, today will prove your worth in the eyes of this academy. You must push yourself through whatever challenges await inside, and you must do so without hesitation. Any among you who is incapable of doing so is far too weak to study at this academy, and would be better suited elsewhere. I will not lie to you all, some of you may not make it out of here, and even more will not be allowed admittance into this academy. All you must remember is that you do not want to be these people, so don't be them."

Turchino finished his spiel before letting Professor Vasilias take over. The blue-haired huntsman explained that two people would be randomly selected to enter one of the 26 entrances at a time as a duo, they would then make their way through the labyrinth, fighting off any and all Grimm, before reaching the exit. The maze was designed to allow for two pairs of partners to meet up with eachother and become teammates. The first unpaired duo you met would be your teammates, no exceptions or complaints. After he was done explaining a large electronic billboard above his head listed the first pair.

 _ **Finn Mortimer and Lily Farkis**_

 _ **Gate #1**_

A pair of students broke off from the crowd and awaited by the door, and, when they were given a nod by Professor Turchino, both of them scurried off into the darkness and the next pair went up. On and on it went with Scarlet and Sage as well as Sun and Neptune being paired before Jaune's name was finally picked out among the students.

 _ **Jaune Lionheart and Dagon Arenas**_

 _ **Gate #18**_

Jaune broke into a run towards the gate, his new partner meeting him halfway, before both of them stood just outside. Turchino waited for a moment before giving them a nod and the two broke into a run into the depths of the maze.

"So," Dagon began, his eyes a deep, rich green, running alongside with Jaune. "I'm Dagon, but I guess you already know that, huh?"

Dagon wore a brown overcoat that stretched to his knees over top a black turtleneck. He wore a pair of jeans and boots quite similar to Jaune's, complete with belts and pouches, and he had a cutlass on his left hip and a revolver on his right. His short brown hair sat just barely visible above a bright red bandanna around his forehead that bobbed with his movements. His grin stretched the short amount of facial hair on his skin, a simple mustache and angular chin-strip that reminded Jaune of one of those Vacuan explorers, conquistadors he believed they were called.

"Jaune, pleasure is all mine." the blonde gladiator answered with a smile. Eventually, the two slowed down once they were a decent ways away from the atrium and took in their surroundings. The hallways were wide and tall enough to fight comfortably in, and every few meters were marked with a bright torch that lit a path all the down the hall, occasional breakages leading to other paths.

"Well, what say you?" Dagon asked, unsheathing his sword. "And, while I'm at it, may I ask what semblance you have?"

Jaune was a little caught off guard by the question, and initially hesitant to answer, before he told him. "I can buff myself for strength, speed, and toughness, I also get a small healing factor as well."

Dagon clapped a hand on his shoulder, his own blue aura lighting up slightly. "Thanks mate, I just wanted to know what I was going to be using."

"Using?" Jaune questioned to which his partner smiled cheekily.

"My semblance is called plunderer, it allows me to copy someone's semblance for 10 minutes at a time." Dagon rubbed his chin. "Before I copied yours I had one that allowed me to soften ground, but I think yours would be more useful here."

Jaune nodded and the two continued their treacherous walk, Jaune unsheathing Auburn Flair and unfolding the shield. About 10 minutes in, Jaune paused ahead of his partner bringing both of them to a sudden halt.

Jaune motioned for Dagon to be quiet and they both listened intently. On the drafty wind of the maze, a sort of chittering could be heard not to far away, perhaps around the corner, that seemed numerous in its amount. Dagon sucked in a small breath at what was most likely the source. _Rat Kings,_ Jaune grimaced _Of course something horrible is down here._

Jaune motioned for Dagon to move slowly as both of them peered around the corner where a small pack of the murderous rodents awaited. Each the size of a labrador retriever and about 30 in number, Jaune leaned back to whisper to his partner.

"Ok, I'm going to jump out and stun them. You use your pistol to pick some of them off and we'll both move in together." Jaune explained, Dagon nodding resolutely as they got into positions.

Jaune leaped from around the corner, shield raised in front of him, as the dust roulette spun into the lightning dust slot. The Grimm rats nary had the time to even fully face their attacker before a blinding flash of light seared through the hallway and blinded the monsters. Being so accustomed to the dark, the creatures could only chirp crazily as they rubbed their eyes in an attempt to view their attacker.

Dagon leapt out behind his partner and began to blast at the rats with murderous marksmanship. The revolver's righteous roar filled the cavern as both of the young huntsman moved to engage the survivors in close combat. By the time the rats had begun to shake off their blindness it was already too late, half their numbers cut down by the privateer and that number increasing as the two easily sliced their way through the enemies.

In a few minutes the corpses began to dissolve and the hallway around them began to shift. The passage behind them disappearing and a new one appearing before them, ushering them forward on a new path. Shrugging to his friend, Jaune entered down the path with his partner following closely behind him.

"So, you come from here?" Jaune asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Meh, my family's mostly privateers by nature." he shrugged. "I lived on the east coast, my parents and older brother worked for the navy as privateers, ah, that's a kind of pirate-type person if you didn't know."

Dagon said that with no small amount of pride in his voice, a victorious smirk on his face. "What about you Jaune, saw you shared a last name with the Headmaster. That a coincidence or...?"

He was treading lightly, how considerate of him Jaune thought. "Nah, he's my dad."

"W-What?" Dagon sputtered, a little unprepared for the bluntness. "So are you, like, a lion faunus then?"

"No, I'm adopted you see." Jaune hummed for a moment before asking. "If I was, would that be a problem?"

"Hmm? Oh my god, no!" Dagon shook his head frantically. "No, no. I have no issues with the faunus, just was curious."

Jaune smiled and looked back at his partner. "I like you man, you seem like a cool dude."

Dagon threw up a pair of finger guns. "Right back at you Jauney-boy."

Suddenly, once again, both of them stopped at a sudden intrusion of noise. They were at a fork in the path, their hallway leading further down into the darkness but another entry going right. Coming closer, there was the sound of a voice from their side.

"I'm just saying, we could have been much more cohesive when facing that bourbatusk. I would've been able to fight more effectively had we not been crammed in so tight." came a familiar, and grating, voice that grew closer.

"Oh great." Jaune muttered, his partner raising an eyebrow at him.

"Up ahead, a fork in the path. There appears to be people." another, much calmer, voice mentioned.

"Oh great, our new teammates no doubt." the same white tiger faunus quipped, emerging from the dim shadows along with her partner. She took one look at the two men standing there and let out a long suffering sigh.

"Great, not only do I get to be a on team of almost all boys but I also get stuck with Mr. Clumsy." she grumbled, raising a gauntleted hand to her forehead. The girl's white and black tail swished behind her, obviously anxious.

The faunus girl was wearing a simple black combat vest, a pair of jeans, and a pair of brown leather cowboy boots. On her hands were a pair of black gauntlets with a small dust wheel not unlike Auburn Flair's resting on the back of where her hand would be. The fingertips of the gauntlets seemed to be able to extend knife-like claws from the tips. Her curly black hair was slightly disheveled but it did nothing to hide the displeasure in her face.

"Oh thank goodness, I do not know how much more I could take. I am Ringo Nakamura." an oriental-esque boy bowed to them. He had a shock of dark hair done up in a small bun and he wore what appeared to be an modified karate gi with leather armor plates attached to it. At his hip rested a katana in its sheath and a quiver of arrows on his back.

"What does that mean Ringo?" the faunus snarled. "Whatever, I'm Chloe Belmonte, I guess its nice to meet you."

"Wonderful, we got a right good team here!" Dagon cheered, clapping a hand on Ringo's shoulder. "Let's get on, ay guys?"

Chloe grimaced. "We will, but not before we consider our options. I won't have us blindly rushing through the dark."

"We came from back this way." Jaune said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "You all came from that way, so I guess all roads lead to Mistral."

Chloe's brow twitched but nonetheless she sighed in defeat. "Yeah, you're right I suppose. Come on then, I can lead the way with my faunus senses."

"Oh, that's right, speaking of abilities, may I ask what are your semblances?" Dagon questioned from behind Jaune.

"Hmm? Oh, my semblance allows me to shutdown one of my senses and in return I can sharpen the rest." Ringo answered, casting a curious look at the overcoated man. "Although I must ask why you need to know."

"Well, I mean, we're on a team right? It's always good to gauge our strengths and weaknesses-"

"He can copy other people's semblances." Jaune interrupted, eyes not straying from the path in front of him.

"I-I was getting to that!" Dagon stammered, shrinking away from a venomous glare from Chloe.

"Hmph, well my semblances allows me to drain the aura of anyone I touch." she responded curtly, head turning back to the path before them. "Now, let's keep our eyes on the prize and get out of here."

So Chloe lead on, the team of four occasionally plowing through any Grimm that came by. Honestly, Jaune was almost disappointed in the whole affair, there were nothing more than C-level or B-level Grimm at most. Occasionally they'd fight a beowolf in the makings of an alpha, but they cut its progress short without any real danger. The hard part were the traps, and the maze itself. The whole place was booby trapped with darts, pit falls, and never ending corridors that looped around almost seamlessly.

If it hadn't been for Ringo's idea to start marking the walls, they'd probably still being running in circles. After another hour of fighting and walking, the four of them found themselves in a large almost cavern-like antichamber. The ceiling stretched high above into the darkness where the barest hints of stalagmites waited, but other than that it was remarkably similar to the basement room.

"Watch above, darkness like that could mask any Grimm." Chloe warned, moving slowly forward and scanning the empty room for traps. "Hey, Ringo, mind optimizing your hearing for a sec?"

"No." Ringo answered, kneeling down and channeling his aura. Across his clothing and skin a light sheen of royal purple appeared. The Mistrali samurai was quiet for a moment, his eyes scrunched up in concentration before he slowly got up.

"There's definitely something above us." he whispered, causing Jaune and Dagon to shift their positions.

The tension in the air thickened before coming to a head, and with it a loud crash and victorious shrieking could be heard.

"-I told you guys we were going the right way!' Sun shouted, standing proudly upon the rubble of now-ruined wall.

"Sun, you've been smashing up the whole place for the last hour!" Neptune shouted, obviously exasperated by his partner.

"Aye, I'm not sure if they're going to be happy about that." Scarlet mentioned, surveying the damage to the wall.

"Will you all shut up, there's something above us!" Chloe harshly whispered, her serrated words causing Sun to flinch.

There was a roar above the 8 hunters that shook the very cavern and made Sun curl into himself, eyes screwed shut. He cracked one open and mouthed a "sorry" at the tiger faunus who looked caught between gutting Sun and fighting their new adversary. Above them, stalagmites shook perilously over head as the massive body descended from the shadows above them.

Whatever it was let go of it its supports and crashed down onto the stone floor, shattering it and causing a torrent of wind to overcome the assembled students. The twisted and engorged body of the Cretan cracked ominously as the beast rolled its muscled shoulders. Its face was an amalgam of a bull and something akin to a man, with a long snout and bull-like ears but a more human structure around the eyes. A pair of massive fangs hung down over its lips as its barbed tail flicked, eliciting a sharp _crack!_ that caused even Jaune to flinch.

Its body seemed to also be a mesh of the two creatures, with a broad chest that was connected to a pair of arms as thick as tree trunks. The massive arms ended in a pair of claws each the size of Jaune's forearm and what appeared to be a pair of bull-like hooves and legs below its waist. The creature easily cleared 12 feet and was possibly almost three times the size of the blonde gladiator. It snorted harshly before roaring in a primal annoyance and beating its chest.

"Oh great, this is perfect." Dagon growled, backing up.

"Well, trial often exhibits truly wonderful results." Ringo attempted, although he was cut short by the wilting glares of both Dagon and Chloe.

"Alright, circle around it and make sure to avoid the tail!" Chloe began, beginning to form a loose perimeter around the creature. "Jaune, I need you to whip up a good dust spell capable of slowing it down. Sun, you and your team provide support and go for the legs."

Jaune danced back along with his partner, Ringo drawing his sword and shifting it into a longbow, and let the his shield's dust spin. Wracking his brain for a good combination, Jaune switched to his earth dust before wheeling it over to his water dust, the star-shaped glyph glowing brightly before firing its payload. A thick deluge of brown mud burst forth in an ensnaring web and coated the creature's legs and one of its arms.

The mud quickly solidified, turning the once gooey substance into some akin to solid concrete. The Cretan gave a few pulls at the substance and promptly began to roar and stomp as it realized that it would not be so easy to escape. Dagon and Scarlet ran forth, seeing an opening, and began to fire a barrage of shots that peppered the monster's torso, not even grabbing the hulking goliath's attention.

As the two got closer they swung wild arcs into the beast's black flesh, eliciting a guttural screech in the progress, as Ringo fired a barbed arrow into the Grimm's face. Behind it, Sun and Neptune bombarded the creature's hide with electrical bolts and buckshot that seemed to dig deeper into the monster. Jaune wheeled to his yellow dust before leaping towards the bull Grimm, a snarling snout raised to meet him, and releasing a blinding flash that consumed the creature point blank.

With its free hand, that had been swiping at the pests to its front, it covered its red eyes and shrieked in anger. Jaune gave a smirk that promptly died when he felt a pair of rough boots find landing on his shoulders. Chloe propelled her blonde teammates backwards, using him as a spring board, as she gave a triumphant battle cry and closed in on her enemy. She landed directly over its massive hand, razor claws digging into the demon's flesh, and skittered her way up onto its head.

The Cretan shrieked and tried to shake the faunus girl off, Jaune noticing that it was beginning to loosen its bonds in doing so, but she dug her claws in and thrashed around with it. She shouted something incoherent as she raked the gauntlets around the beast scalp, black sludge oozing down and splashing onto the cracked pavement.

"The Grimm's coming loose!" Jaune shouted, Ringo nodding and retrieving a strange-looking arrow from his quiver.

"I got it!" he shouted, firing an arrow that seemed to have a length of rope attached to it. It coiled around Chloe and the girl barely had time to utter a question before Ringo yanked her back to the relative safety of her team.

Just in time, as the Cretan freed its arm with a tremendous shattering noise and threw a wall of bladed nails where the huntress had previously stood. Chloe nodded her thanks to Ringo, breathing hard and face flushed. Jaune turned back to the fight, Scarlet and Dagon were doing some light damage but, now that the beast had freed its arm, they mostly continued to duck and roll out of the way.

Sage lifted his broadsword overhead and brought it down onto the Grimm's knee, blade sinking into the coiled flesh before it was pulled free from its owner's strength. Jaune noticed that Sun had switched to his gun-staff and was currently flipping over the swinging guillotines, blasting the large paws with dust-aided shockwaves. Meanwhile, Neptune continued to support the group with bolts of blue electricity.

"Sage! Get over here!" Jaune shouted, an idea formulating in his head as he gazed upwards.

"What's your plan?" Chloe asked, eyeing her teammate warily.

"See that ceiling, awfully high right?" Jaune asked, Sage nearing them, to which Chloe cocked an eyebrow in understanding.

"But we'd need something more to that, we need to get it low!" she half-whined to herself, looking at her teammates and their weapons. "Jaune, think you could help me bring it down?"

"Yeah, I think so." Jaune answered, Sage panting as he looked between them.

"What? You got a plan, man?" he breathed, sword dragging behind him. "Because this thing is tougher than a battleship."

"Yeah, I'll throw you towards the ceiling, and when we give the signal you jump down and kill the monster." Jaune summarized, sighing when Sage looked at him as if he was insane. "Look, it's not ideal but with your strength and that much speed you could easily pierce its skull, we just need to bring it down. Ok?"

Sage gazed up at the ceiling high over head and gulped, however he gave a resolute nod when he eyed the blonde warrior. "Alright, but I can't stay up there forever Jaune."

"Don't worry, this'll be quick." Chloe butted in, striding between the two. "Hey you guys we have a plan! We need to bring this thing down to the ground momentarily!"

Neptune and Sun exchanged looks but complied, each of them going for the legs as Scarlet fired his grappling hook onto the beast's neck. Dagon aided his red-haired ally in pulling the beast down, its legs still encased into the earthy cement. Chloe gave Jaune one more look before going to help the two pulling the monster down, leaving Jaune and Sage alone once more.

"You got this?" Jaune asked.

Sage shrugged. "Ehhh, I'm sure it'll be fine. Alright, throw me captain."

Jaune nodded and switched to his gravity dust, kneeling down and gesturing towards the top of his weapon. Sage hefted his weapon onto his shoulder and leapt onto his comrade's shield, swallowing thickly before giving a tap to signal he was ready. Jaune sucked in a breath and grunted, heaving the green-haired boy overhead and activating the dust.

With a crack and a boom, Sage Ayana soared through the air aided by the gravity dust. He peaked next to a stalagmite and one hand came to bite into the rock with all the force he could muster. The huntsman grunted in exertion but held firm to the rock nonetheless, it seemed to be supporting his weight for the moment and he gazed below where the creature had begun to stumble.

Sun gave a victorious roar as his staff cracked down onto the beast's snout and released a mighty blast of power. Jaune, huffing as he sprinted and clambered up the creature's overturned shoulder, brought down his shield onto the Cretan's neck and blasted it with gravity dust. The three hunters pulling roughly down with the grappling hook heaved in unison, further bringing the creature down. Finally, Ringo fired another grappling bolt onto the tip of the Grimm's snout and pulled with all his might to help aid the progress.

With a roar and a earth-trembling thud, the beast finally collapsed onto the floor. Chloe's head snapped wildly back up into the darkness, a crazed look of desperation in her eyes as she shouted a single word.

"SAGE!" she signaled, the Vacuan warrior shrieking maniacally as felt earthbound, his broadsword closing in on the beast's exposed head.

The Cretan bull Grimm had just begun to lumber back up before the massive sword's blade pierced the bone and flesh of its head. The Grimm was silent, and frozen for a moment before its eyes rolled back and, with a moan and a sigh, it fell to the ground one last time. Black smoke exuded from its flesh as the body began to dissolve, the 8 hunters shouting and whooping victoriously.

Jaune laughed happily as he was brought into a headlock with his partner. Dagon gave a barrel-chested laugh and rocked his friend back and forth in a celebration, the members of Neptune and Sun's team coming together for a round of high fives. Chloe wore a massive smirk that seemed to radiate pride and Ringo smiled serenely, patting his partner on her back.

Their attention was pulled away as a large gate-like opening in the wall down from them unlocked, revealing a group of teachers and upperclassmen. Professor Turchino met them halfway, clapping proudly and with a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

"Wonderful, excellent teamwork all around." he praised, clipboard in hand. "I am happy to note you have all passed your examinations and are free to head to the rec room for a break."

He turned on his heel but stopped, adding- "Oh, you aren't in first place either I'm afraid."

Neptune groaned and mentioned something about a bet with his dad, but the group followed the experienced huntsman. They all yearned for at least somewhat of a break, and Jaune personally felt he deserved at least a cup of water. Dagon shook his friend happily, boasting of his own contribution and laughing with Ringo as they recounted the fight.

0-0-0-0

"...Sun Wukong, Sage Ayana, Scarlet David, and Neptune Vasilias. For your contribution to eachother and your fellow teammates you are hereby named as Team SSSN, led by Sun Wukong!" Headmaster Lionheart, a chorus of somewhat confused clapping ensuing.

"S-S-S-N? Sun? Who came up with that one?" Dagon asked, scrunching up his nose. "I hope we don't get name something stupid like that."

"Eh, my dad probably came up with it in the staff room five minutes ago." Jaune shrugged, equally unimpressed.

"Will Jaune Lionheart, Chloe Belmonte, Ringo Nakamura, and Dagon Arenas please enter the stage?" Professor Tavish asked, her twitchy self clapping in excitement.

The four hunters entered the stage and stood proudly before the headmaster, Lionheart gazing at each of them proudly, his eyes lingering on his adoptive son a little longer. He cleared his throat and smiled sunnily at them.

"Jaune Lionheart, Chloe Belmonte, Ringo Nakamura, and Dagon Arenas. For your quick thinking and decisive teamwork, I hereby name you Team CAJN (Cajun), led by Chloe Belmonte!" Headmaster Lionheart exclaimed, bowing to the newly-promoted leader.

Chloe seemed at a lost for words, an almost sappy smile overtaking her features as the applause thundered in the room. Jaune tapped Dagon and pointed to their leader's tail that swished happily, like that of cat's. Both of them held down their laughter but giggled quietly, Ringo rolling his eyes but nonetheless patting his partner on her back.

In comparison to that, the rest of the naming ceremony went by quickly. And the assembled first years were quickly ushered out and shoved along by upperclassmen who deposited them at the dorms with a number and their access code. Wishing to get away from the chaos, the members of Team CAJN hustled their way through the crowd and took refuge in their room.

Steeling herself and drawing a long breath, Chloe marched in front of them and placed her hands on her hips. "As your newly appointed leader, I am going to lay down some ground rules as well as demand equal respect for any faunus you may meet on campus. You see, I am a 12th generation Belmonte family tiger faunus..."

"Oh boy, I can already tell this'll be a gas." Dagon whispered to his partner, who nodded unhappily.

Yep, it was going to be a long haul alright...


	34. One Man Army

**Yes, I am alive! Don't worry my bestest friends! As you can see I am thinking of updating "Needle in a Haystack" this Spring Break so stay tuned! For now, enjoy this little sequel.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 **One Man Army:**

 **There are stories from around the continent of Vale. Stories of an army of ravishing young men who seek out brave, new frontiers ripe with adventure and strife. This company of the most handsome warriors the world has ever seen has been merely spoken about in hushed whispers across taverns nationwide. Their heroic deeds and altruistic endeavors have brought them much respect, and yet very little popularity. That is ok, these dauntless warriors need nothing more than the feeling of self-satisfaction from their quests. Although, living in an abandoned mall has grown somewhat dreary.**

0-0-0-0

The blonde DJ woke up with a start, nearly rolling off his reclining chair before he balanced himself. He brushed a somewhat grimy lock of flaxen hair out of his eyes before he pushed himself over to the security cams with a "wheee!". The young man started his daily routine by flipping through the cameras, across the once-desolate mall life had just begun to spring up.

His people were the early-bird/night owls and they had a big day ahead of him. Shops had begun to open once more (most advertising non-existent items) and the beginnings of folks emerged from under benches, behind once-potted plants, and even from other shops. Pressing a button on the intercom the fair-haired DJ cleared his throat once before beginning.

 _"Good morning lads! This is your favorite DJ Jaune on your favorite station: 93.9 Electrical Arc FM!"_ the men milling around the mall nodded and smiled, all just starting to work themselves into an enthusiastic attitude. _"I have a few special announcements before the music so listen up you lovelies! First off, the food court just got a brand new item: Sweet and Sour Chicken! Go check that out at the Panda Nonstop. Then, of course, Sports n' Stuff has actually discovered some football pads in the back, needless to say if you're thinking of a new look go check it out. Finally, the movie theater just got a copy of Spruce Willis's new flick "Kick Gum and Chew Ass" it'll be airing tonight so order tickets in advance! That's all for now, so here's "Africa" by Toto!"_

Jaune finished, shifting in his comfortable hoodie and cracking his neck. Across the mall the vintage song echoed, it had to be one of his favorites since they found the old mp3 and it certainly brought some life to their capital city: Green Pines Shopping Mall. Suddenly, and without warning, the door to his recording studio opened and in walked, if you could believe it, President Jaune in the flesh!

DJ Jaune could barely sputter a word before he got up and fixed his appearance hastily. Dammit, why didn't he go for a trim at the barber's? In the midst of his flailing the distinguished leader merely raised a hand with a smile, his neatly ironed white shirt and black coat looking beautiful. The President's blonde hair bounced slightly as he chuckled and deep blue eyes opened.

"It's alright son, just coming to pay a visit to our very own DJ." the boy nodded, causing Jaune to once again sputter in an attempt to muster up a thank you. "And, might I say, you are looking quite handsome."

This, the DJ was prepared for going back to one of their oldest pickup lines. "Well you don't look so bad yourself. Anyways, and if you don't mind me asking, what is the President of the United Confederacy of Jaune want with me?"

The leader of the UCJ walked over, his bodyguards waiting at the door, and, with a chuckle, patted his identical twin's back. "Son, I think what you do keeps our very society together. Tell me, when you look at these cameras what kind of people do you see?"

For reference, DJ Jaune looked blankly at one of the screens showcasing the bustling little city. Across the floor walked an army of identical clones, some conversing others trying on new clothing and some even running shops, as they went about their daily business. For the most part they were uniform in clothing and appearance with only a few sporting the latest fashion trends.

"I see... Jaunes... And... Shops...?" the blonde boy struggled to get out, not quite sure what the President wanted.

President Jaune chuckled once more, a habit that had basically won him the election. "No my boy, what I see out there is a civilization that is constantly fed important information by you and you alone. You are responsible for getting out the hot new news on the daily, and yet you never disappoint despite how the responsibility you have on your shoulders. I'd just like to say that the UCJ is proud to call you our DJ."

DJ Jaune blinked back some tears at the complimenting words of his leader, he sniffed to regain some face and nodded resolutely. "I understand sir, thank you for acknowledging the work I put into here. I am deeply thankful for both my job and my responsibility."

"Good man," President Jaune patted his double's back. "Now I'll leave you too it. Godspeed."

"Godspeed sir!" DJ Jaune saluted as his leader left.

President Jaune continued making his rounds around the city, greeting his clone's with a smile and wave. Sometimes it was easy to lose sight of how far their people had come, to think in just 9 months they had grown from a collection of identical homeless in the heart of Vale to this new kingdom in the works.

Occasionally, the President would see an armed soldier walking around, speaking into their walkie talkie to the outside troops. President Jaune frowned, as the original Jaune he had scoped out this place and had been one of the first to settle it. Green Pines Mall was situated near the back of Mountain Glenn and, thus, had an overwhelming population of small Grimm scattered around it. The fight to retake this little shopping mall alone costed him nearly 100, admittedly inexperienced, clones and a few of the surrounding buildings.

It was the main reason they didn't branch out into the rest of Mountain Glenn, the amount of soldiers alone made it entirely not worth it. He supposed he _could_ just keep cloning himself and weapons until they cleared the whole place out, but the lives of his citizens were important to him and what sane leader would throw his people into the fire? No, for now they held the mall with unrivaled superiority and that was how things would stay until better plans were put together, for now-

"President Jaune! General Jaune requests you in the war room!" one Lt. Jaune saluted, standing at crisp attention.

"What for Lieutenant?" the President asked carefully, the last time he had been called was the breach.

"Apparently we've been sent a transmission from Beacon, sir. The General says it is urgent!" Lt. Jaune informed, still at salute.

"At ease, I'll be there immediately." The soldier dropped salute and guided the leader of the UCJ to the war room.

In truth, the war room was a large storage part of the mall that housed their best tech gadgets and weapons. In the center of the small warehouse, a table stood with a smattering of distinguished officers all speaking, behind them a large plasma screen TV projected the image of a silver-haired man sipping his coffee. As the President entered the soldiers saluted and were promptly put at ease as Jaune approached the TV.

"Can he see us?" The President asked, to which one of the tech crew nodded.

"Mr. Arc-" began Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy.

" _President Jaune_." Jaune corrected sternly.

The Headmaster cleared his throat. "Excuse me, _President Jaune_ , it is quite the honor to finally make contact with you. We saw your signal months ago but had trouble getting to it clearly."

"Apologies, had I'd known you wanted to make contact I would have helped on my end."

"Worry not," the professor waved the concern away. "I merely wished to ask you some questions in the interest of an alliance of sorts."

President Jaune raised a brow. "An Alliance? And why are you so eager to ally with me?"

"Oh, apologies Mr. President. I forgot to inform you that my people had been looking into your City-State and had been gathering information on how it ran. This was merely to make sure you hadn't been preparing for war against the kingdom of Vale I assure you." Headmaster Ozpin nodded his head.

"I see, you have no need to worry about my intentions Headmaster. I only seek to make a home for my people." The President stated, hands tucked behind his back.

The older man smiled and bowed his head. "A worthy and noble goal by all means. And to that end I wish to make an alliance with you, Mr. President I am aware of the nature of your semblance as well as the incredible opportunities it could grant to my people."

"And what, pray tell, is my semblance Headmaster?" President Jaune asked, for all he knew this guy could be bluffing.

"Duplication: A semblance that allows the user to duplicate anything they touch regardless of size or make up. These clones have the same durability and usability as the original and possess the same characteristics down to their aura and semblances." The headmaster recited as if off a textbook. He took a sip of his drink before speaking again. "Is that about the basics?"

"...Yeah, a few things missing but you got the gist of it." Jaune nodded tightly, it seemed the wizened headmaster knew his stuff.

"Surprised? I told you we had some scouts looking over you." Ozpin grinned before hiding it behind his mug. "But, moving on, the nature of this alliance would be a simple one of shared power."

"Shared power?"

Ozpin nodded. "Yes, it would seem your semblance has attracted the gaze of more than a few people. Some of which are allied with me, and others are more... unsavory. It is the interest of both preserving your people and strengthening the kingdom of Vale. The council wishes for me to establish a sort of peace between us and perhaps allow you entry into my academy."

"Your academy? Why would I need that?" Jaune asked, General Jaune behind him frowning. "I have my own city-state."

"I understand Mr. President, but this opportunity could help allow you network among the highest echelons of our government as well as help you hone new skills that you could use to strengthen your people." Ozpin explained, an unconcerned look on his face. "There's even some talk of perhaps allowing you to be annexed by Vale and act as your own recognized state."

"I see..." Jaune trailed off, with those kind of options he could really be on his way to making his own kingdom. And then, he could show those bastards that he was more than they-

"How could I contact you?" President Jaune asked, scratching his chin. "If I wish to partake in this alliance I mean."

"We'll keep this channel open for some time I assure you, you merely need to contact me again and I'll send a personal bullhead to come pick you up." Headmaster Ozpin waved a hand. "After that, it is merely a need to enroll you in our academy and let you spend the next couple years training. I advise you to take up my offer Mr. President, I am a man that could give you many options."

"I see, we'll have an answer for you very soon." Jaune nodded, the headmaster reciprocating it, before the channel closed.

"Mr. President! You can't be serious about joining this guy. We have no idea who he really is nor do we know his goals!" Colonel Jaune protested, one hand slamming the table.

"I understand Colonel, but the opportunities presented before us are near limitless if we can work this to our advantage." General Jaune countered, looking to his president. "While I do not trust that man, we would be fools to ignore the bounty set out before us."

"Yes, an awfully suspicious bounty if you ask me. This man claims to have been trying to contact us and also admits to spying on us before suddenly claiming he wishes to broker an alliance? This smells like a trap to me." one Lieutenant Colonel Jaune commented causing the rest of his cabinet to murmur amongst themselves.

"Aye, this seems too good to be true." Jaune, Head of Domestic Affairs, nodded. "Either way, we've been put into a tough spot."

"You forget that we needn't move our entire military or civilian population to complete this alliance. If we beef up security at Green Pines, then we could send a dignitary to Beacon to act as our ambassador." General Jaune argued, looking between the serious faces. "Perhaps we could even work out a deal for some better weapons and monthly food and water rations."

Again, another murmur around the table. Things had begun to get rather dreary at the mall, and fresh supplies were dwindling between the populace. The people of Green Pines could not scavenge forever lest they attract some of the nastier beasts in Mountain Glenn or run out of salvageable things. It was a concern a long time coming, and the timing of Headmaster Ozpin couldn't have been more suspicious. The whole situation worried the young leader, a hand scratching a non-existent beard as his officers argued over the whole thing.

"Mr. President, what do you think?" one of the identical clones asked, the whole room going silent.

"I think we should take him up on this offer." another argument began to brew but was cut off by the blonde. "We have very little choice, we've known about this food shortage for months now and yet we haven't come up with a single good solution. At this point in time, our best bet is to ally with Ozpin in return for monthly supplies and perhaps some political power. If nothing else, this experience will serve to put us on a PR blast. Tell Jaune that I want him to cook up the best paraphernalia he can muster for this."

One of the officers nodded and left, leaving the others to quietly talk among themselves.

"Who should we send?" one of the Jaunes asked.

"I am going, alone as well." President Jaune answered, silencing the flood of comments with a hand. "As leader it is my duty to go there myself, and, as we have no others trained for such an endeavor, it is only natural I go. Should I perish for one reason or another, Vice President Jaune will assume my role, and for the duration of my leave he will assume role as acting President."

The war room was silent, even the tech managers had gone quiet in the face of the announcement. Some of the officers sat down, General Jaune meeting his longtime leader's eyes with a silent question. Both President Jaune and General Jaune had been together since their stint under the bridge back in Vale, and the two had been inseparable as well as vital to the retaking of the mall.

"Are you sure about this Jaune? What if you don't come back?" the army-green clad Jaune asked.

"Then, my old friend, it will for a worthy cause: Our People." President Jaune answered confidently, the two stared eachother down before the distinguished general sighed.

"You're crazy you know that?" General Jaune asked, a ghost of a smile grazing his lips.

"Well, that might be exactly what we need." the president answered, fixing his tie. "Jaune?"

One of the tech managers stood up. "Y-Yes sir?"

"Send a message to Ozpin, I'm going to Beacon..."

0-0-0-0

"Mr-" Headmaster Ozpin started before clearing his throat and correcting himself. "President Jaune, glad to finally make your acquaintance."

"I as well Headmaster." Jaune shook his hand as the gray professor stepped out from behind his desk. "I must admit, Beacon is truly remarkable."

"Yes, I find that one never gets too tired of it." Ozpin commented somewhat distantly before turning back to his guest. "I trust the bullhead ride over was without major issue?"

"Yes, well, I have a bad case of motion sickness you see. The ride was... less than pleasant." Jaune chuckled with the headmaster. "And you can call me Jaune during my stay at Beacon, sir. I am your new student."

"For that I am grateful, I think you will be most happy with your life here. The school's initiation begins tomorrow, so please, try and get some rest. I trust your accommodations, weapons, and whatever armor have been appropriately moved?" the silver haired man asked.

"Yes sir, they were all moved with issue." Jaune nodded with a smile. "I took a small tour of the campus so I'll at least know where I'm going."

"Wonderful, I hope this will be a pleasant experience for you Jaune."

"Me too headmaster, me too..."

 **The next day...**

Well, waking up wasn't a pleasant experience. Even after becoming president Jaune had never truly gotten used to waking up so early in the morning, ironic because he was an avid night owl. Jaune quickly set out to begin his day, a flurry of identical clones seemingly splitting off of his body and going to collect clothes, ids, bags, and the like as the real Jaune walked to and fro in a haze.

After a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes, Jaune went downstairs from his guest room to find the Beacon grounds bustling with the new students. It seemed he had woken up just in time for orientation, the thought almost made him scoff. Who in their right mind would hold an orientation at 12:30 in the afternoon? Had these people ever heard of sleep?

Shaking his head, Jaune followed the procession of younger students that formed into a massive stream towards the grand hall of Beacon. Along the way the young leader took note of a few students, the ginger boy in silver armor, the blonde-haired girl waltzing around with a group of people, and a suspicious black-cloaked figure scuttling away from the rest. Jaune narrowed his eyes, that may have warranted some suspicion but he was sure Ozpin could handle it if they weren't supposed to be here.

Suddenly, there was a sound of splintering rock and a massive plume of smoke rose into the air. From a nearby offshoot of the main path Jaune could hear an exasperated voice chastising someone from beyond the hedges. Whoever they were they seemed pretty steamed at the not-so-lucky victim, whatever the matter it seemed only right that, as a distinguished ambassador, he would play mediator.

Following the sounds of chaos, Jaune came upon a pair of young women in the middle of a slew of white cases. The taller one, who had the most startling white hair, seemed bent over and ruthlessly scolding the much younger redhead on the ground. The white-haired girl shook a seemingly cracked vial of red dust that must've been the cause of the small explosion.

 _Ah, now it makes sense._ Jaune thought to himself, the redhead must've accidentally set off the dust and earned quite the tongue lashing. Jaune briskly walked up to the two and cleared his throat, drawing the rather scathing attention of the white-haired girl.

"Oh great, more of you ruffians. What is it?" she spoke like a noblewoman would to a commoner.

"I heard that there was a small disagreement over here, and I came to help resolve it." Jaune mustered up the most pleasant poker face he could.

"Well, no one asked you to butt-" the white-haired girl was cut off by the redhead.

"Oh thank you! You have to believe me it what an accident! She was shaking the dust and I sneezed and..." the girl trailed off, a sheepish blush on her face.

White-haired girl scoffed. "Whatever the reasons, you not only damaged Schnee property but could have blown us up!"

"I said I was sorry princess." the redhead murmured.

"Well, I think that this could be resolved-" Jaune found himself cut short.

"Princess? I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and I will not-"

"Please! Let's be civil." Jaune interrupted, earning a withering look from Weiss. "Now, tell me your name please ma'am."

"R-Ruby Rose, at your service." Ruby nodded. "And who are you?"

"Yes, who _are_ you?" Weiss asked.

"I am President Jaune of the United Confederacy of Jaune, a sovereign state currently on the outskirts of Mountain Glenn." Jaune answered as regally as he could.

"Y-You're what?" Weiss asked in disbelief, arms folded across her chest. "The United Confederacy of Jaune? Sounds made up..."

"It is not!" Jaune snapped with more ferocity than needed. Seeing their looks, he cleared his throat. "I mean, it _is_ a small nation as of now. A mere couple hundred."

"That's awesome! Can you believe we're talking to the president of a whole country?!" Ruby crowed, Weiss scoffing.

"It's more of a province than anything." Jaune chuckled nervously. "A-Anyways are we done here? I feel as though the situation has been resolved."

"Fine." was all Weiss said.

"It's good with me!" Ruby chirped. "Now come on, we're going to be late!"

Ruby grabbed Jaune's hand and pulled him away back towards the main hall, Jaune nary having the time to voice his opinion. Left alone, all Weiss could do was sit in silence for a moment before scoffing and going to collect her luggage again.

"Commoners, I swear..."


	35. The Outsider

**The Outsider:**

 **People hate what they don't understand. Even with the ever-present threat of the Grimm hanging overhead the people of Remnant will never shirk their distaste for eachother. It was with this in mind that Jaune Arc had been hidden away, locked in an old, abandoned castle in the middle of nowhere Vale. Being born different and vilified, Jaune finally must break free of his stone prison and forge his way to a new life.**

0-0-0-0

In the forested town of Sleepy Hallow, you can ask any of the residents what they fear most and they will tell you the truth. It is not the Grimm, no they have walls and militia to defend themselves. Then, what of bandits? No, the bandits avoid this accursed place like the plague. Then, perhaps it is a rogue huntsman or maybe some kind of natural barrier? No, none of these things keeps the people tucked away inside their homes.

Instead, the folks speak of a monstrous amalgam of man and beast. Of a creature, a monster, so foul that it has taken on a human visage in order to entice the small children to come near it. That it speaks in the most vile tongue imaginable, and that just hearing it utter words can drive a man to insanity. The beast can emit poisonous fog that decays the flesh off your bones. This abhorrent abomination has teeth like knives and claws like swords, its hide is impenetrable and it is as cunning as any seasoned huntsman worth their salt.

 _"I hear it can grow to seven feet tall!"_ says the farmer's wife.

 _"I've heard that it once split a huntsman in two!"_ the new militiaman whispers.

 _"I've heard that it was a blasphemous creation by the younger brother as a joke!"_ hisses the local pastor.

Whatever the case, whatever the stories and the accounts, the people of Sleepy Hallow all agree on one thing: they are scared of The Beast of Castle Ludwick. But I, I am not so afraid of this wretched creature. I alone have slayed a thousand Goliath with nothing more than a salted mackerel and my own left boot. My colleagues can snicker and roll their eyes behind my back all they want, I have never lost a fight to man nor beast.

For I, am the legendary huntsman: Peter Van Port!

"Hey man, you've told me this like a hundred times." a nasally and slightly drunk voice sighed. "I get it, yer gonna kill some monster or whatever."

"Did you not hear my tale?!" he whispered, aghast. "That there is a soulless beast possessing a human form to abduct children?"

"Oh gods, yes I heard you old man. Now shut up." Fernando let his head hit the tavern's scratched up tabletop. "Personally, I think it is an utter load of bullshit. I' been travelling this route for 30 years and lemme tell you that that bunch of hog wash has only been around for about 17 years. Immortal human-like Grimm my ass."

"You young folk, always so quick to cast aside doubts." he sighed, shaking his head. "Why in my day, we-"

"I'm 49 years old Pete, you're like what, 60?" Fernando grumbles. "Whatever, that's a bunch of bullshit and you're wasting your time."

"Hmmph, perhaps to you but I intend to save the people of Sleepy Hallow." Peter Port harrumphed impudently.

"Good luck, we gotta set sail in a few hours." Fernando rolled his eyes. "Castle Ludwick is only about 15 more miles from here."

"Wonderful, I can finally put this wretched business behind me." the white-haired man leaned back. "I hope that this beast will leave a fetching corpse. One that won't dissolve."

 **5 hours later...**

"There she is old man, your quarry." Fernando mumbled, pointing a wrinkled finger at a ruined mess of stone that might've been a castle. "Good luck, don't die or whatever."

"Tch, I have no need for luck lad." Professor Port nodded resolutely. "When you see me again I will regale you with this battle."

"Gods, I hope you die then." Fernando walked off with the rest of the caravan and they faded into the distance.

Finally alone, Peter Port charged straight into the lair of this unsightly beast, clearing away what were no-doubt lackey Grimm along the way. By the time he made it to the decrepit courtyard, Port was suitably energized for his fight. He slammed a black boot onto the old brick, sending a shockwave that perilously rattled the stone walls around him.

"Grimm! I have come to challenge you!" Professor Port shouted thunderously, the reverb giving more of a shake than the stomp beforehand.

The aged professor waited for a moment, expecting to hear some maniacal laugh or maybe like some villainous slow clapping. Instead, there was nothing but a bleak silence from around the entire castle grounds. Could he have gotten it wrong? No, this was the only Castle Ludwick anywhere in Vale and he was sure that this was the place, he even wrote it down to make sure.

"Hmm, perhaps I should shout louder." Peter mused to himself before his eye caught the glimpse of something.

Overhead, a waning tower of stone sat high above the castle grounds below. At the very top lay a single dusty window, and the white-haired professor could have sworn that he spied a quick shadow overcoming the glass.

"Well, if he won't come down here I will go to my quarry!" Peter frowned before leaping forward with a spectacular jump. "Prepare yourself evildoer!"

The pudgy professor slammed straight into the ancient brick and mortar, smashing a hole through it like old newspaper. Inside lay a once-pristine red carpet leading upwards and downwards along the tower. Withdrawing his blunderaxe, the seasoned veteran ran up the flight of stairs towards the top where his opponent lay, no doubt sitting in a revolving chair and stroking some kind of cat-grimm.

Arriving at the top of the tower, the heroic huntsman prepared a good one-liner before kicking down the door with explosive force. Inside revealed the dastardly lair of the beast, complete with a bed, and a desk, and even a bookshelf well-stocked with reading material!

Wait...

"Ugh..." Peter Port blinked to himself, perhaps he did have the wrong castle.

A small clatter brought his attention back to the present and with a skilled finesse brought the muzzle of his blunderbuss towards the noise. However, instead of the worthy Grimm he had expected to face, a small figure was huddled in the corner, shivering like a leaf in the wind and whimpering. Once again, Peter Port blinked before slowly lowering the muzzle of his gun.

"Ugh... Evildoer? Are we gonna fight?" that seemed to catch the huddled figures attention, though not in the way Peter might've expected.

"FIGHT?! N-No, please! I-I-I won't get in your way! Take what you want, j-just please don't hurt me!" the creature shrieked in an ungodly fear, hands covering its face.

 _It sounds like... a kid..._ Port thought to himself, slowly lowering himself to ground, gun still within reach.

"Ok, don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. I, ugh, I can help you, can you tell me your name, son?" Port asked gently, he had never been the best with little kids but he needed to try his best here.

"M-My name?" the huddled figure stuttered. "I-I don't- I mean I'm not quite... sure...? Jaune maybe?"

"Y-You're not sure?" Port asked in disbelief. "Didn't your parents ever tell you your name?"

"Well, I mean, m-maybe? I-I don't know, they left me here when I was kid." the small frame had stopped shivering somewhat and instead, a single eye poked out from the mass of rags.

"They left you?" a searing rage boiled in Port's gut, but he choked it down and took a knee. "Well, don't worry I'm here to help. Tell me, do you know anything about The Beast of Sleepy Hallow?"

And with that, the shivering returned and the boy's voice quivered. "W-W-Well I mean, yes? Maybe? I guess so, I mean..."

"What can you tell me?" Port asked slowly, tensing slightly as the figured shifted onto its knees.

"I-I'm The Beast of Sleepy Hallow." the boy, Jaune, slowly lifted his head to show off his face.

Port forced himself to remain calm, to an unobservant person this kid would've clearly looked like a Grimm. His skin was so pale it bordered on porcelain, and beneath it a webbing of thick, dark veins danced across his neck and face. The boy's eyes were a dull red, similar to that of Qrow Branwen's but more... sickly in appearance. His feathery hair was an extremely light blonde and the skin around his eyes was sunken in and dark.

To anyone else, he would have most certainly looked like a Grimm alright. But, now the villager's observations made much more sense than before. If this kid was some outcast, then he might've been around 17, around the same time of reports of a "human grimm" began coming through. There were subtle differences when compared to the Grimm, for instance, this kid's veins weren't black but simply much darker in comparison to his skin.

"Your skin...?" Port trailed off, frowning in concentration.

"Y-Yeah, I-I don't know it's some kinda rare form of albinism I think. From what I've read I-I think it must be similar." the kid shuffled nervously, avoiding the older man's gaze.

"So then, why were you terrorizing the town?"

"I wasn't!" Jaune cried only to stifle himself a moment later. "I-I mean, not intentionally."

"Can you elaborate on that son?" Port asked, raising his palms in a calming motion.

"W-Well, awhile ago I had gotten tired of just scrounging out here so I decided to head into town to maybe find a friend. A-And I saw these kids playing near the woods and then one of them tripped, so I got out my bandages that I had 'cause I thought it'd be a perfect time to introduce myself." Jaune swallowed, eyes tracing the floor. "A-And it was going good at first, b-but then one of them pulled back my hood and..."

"And what, son?"

"H-He screamed bloody murder. He started wailing about me being a monster a-and I just wanted to explain b-b-but they j-just ran away and I-" the kid had begun to hyperventilate, eyes looking upward as he seemed to choke on nothing.

"Ok, ok. It's ok now lad, you're safe." Port tried to soothe the distressed boy. "Just look at me son, look at me."

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the albino boy did so, locking eyes with the professor. In a moment, the panic attack began to subside and the young man began to breathe a little bit easier, though a stark white hand still clutched at his chest.

"A-Anyways, sorry, the kid started crying and then the others came."

"The others?"

"The villagers I mean, they started freaking and one of them... attacked me." the young man's eyes sank back to the floor.

"Attacked? Do you need medical attention?" Port asked, looking over for any signs of heavy damage.

"N-No, it kinda happened awhile ago. But anyways, he got me good and I had to run back to this castle. I... I heard the Grimm swarm the town by the time I was leaving, a side effect of me getting them worked up." Jaune nearly whispered the last part.

It was at the moment, Port had an epiphany. The stories, the legends, they all made sense now.

 _"He tried to abduct our children!"_

 _"He brought a swarm of Grimm to this very town."_

 _"One of our own bravely wounded him and he had to retreat to his lair, where he lays plotting his next attack."_

"...Son... I'm, sorry." Peter said, not entirely sure was _could_ be said. "Look, I'm from this place, an academy, called Beacon. Maybe, I could take you back there, away from these people."

Jaune seemed hesitant. "I...I don't know, I'm no good with people. They look at me and..."

"Beacon is... different, lad. We needn't introduce you to the whole school, but perhaps you could do some secretarial work for the headmaster. Lord knows the man needs the help." Port joked with a chuckled, a small crack of a smile on Jaune's lips.

"Will it be safe?" Jaune asked with a touch of childlike naivety.

"Aye, the staff'll love you, and the accommodations will be so much better than here." Port's bushy eyebrows crinkled into a smile. "You have my word as a hero of mankind!"

Something flickered in Jaune's eyes, brief, but for instant it might've been some long-lost emotion. Either way, the young albino found himself stagger to his feet and facing the older man eye-to-eye.

"O-Ok, I guess. Not much for me to do here, I-I've read all the books here." the young man smiled sheepishly, drawing himself into his layers.

Port nodded, helping the boy out of the dreary stone tower, after allowing him to pack some things, and the two left the courtyard. Jaune paid one last glance to the old castle where he grew up, time worn and old as it was, before following the aged huntsman back to civilization.

The walk between the two was uneventful, Port slaying one or two beowolves along the way, and with a small scroll call a bullhead was soon descending upon their location. Jaune marveled at the flying machine, he had read books and manuals on them but seeing it in person was something of an experience. Port huffed, amused at his charge's awe of such a simple thing, before the bay doors opened to reveal a green-haired man in safari gear.

"Peter! How good of you to call us in, have you slayed the beast yet?" the man exclaimed proudly, sipping from his thermos.

Port felt Jaune hide behind him somewhat and sighed. "No Oobleck, in fact, there isn't a beast to begin with. Just a case of misunderstanding to be perfectly honest."

Oobleck's eyebrows raised, taking notice of the huddled figure behind his old colleague. "I see, and what kind of case would that be old friend?"

Port turned his head and whispered some words of encouragement, with it Jaune slowly lowered his hood to reveal his face. There was a slight pause, Oobleck's face an unreadable mask before his features morphed into geniality.

"Well then! Nothing to be done, come along then Peter we must return home!" Doctor Oobleck turned to enter back into the ship, his voice echoing once more. "Oh! And young man, we can't wait to have you at Beacon!"

Jaune stared at Port incredulously, the older man shrugging his shoulders with a grandfatherly smile. "An eccentric man no doubt, but one that I have come to call a good friend. Now, off we go!"

The ride back was... tumultuous to say the least. Turns out, the young Jaune had an intense case of motion sickness and was actively trying to keep what little food was in his stomach where it should be. Of course, it may have not been helpful to have Oobleck showering the young man with questions for almost the entire time. Port attempted to iron out a forehead wrinkle as he asked his old partner to stop asking questions for the 13th time.

"Ok ok. But just one more-"

"No Bart, we'll wait until we get to Beacon. Until then, let the boy rest." Oobleck pouted like a scorned child, the bullhead rocking as Jaune tried to hold down his food.

Luckily, it was a dark night in Vale and no student of Beacon thought it good to go on a midnight stroll. Smuggling the young albino in had been a breeze, and Port had thanked the gods for that small miracle. As much as he enjoyed teaching the next generation, he knew his students to be more than headstrong when it came to battling Grimm.

"Well," Professor Peach murmured, a small device checking the young man's ears. "no real illnesses that require treatment. That wound of his has healed rather fine and isn't in danger of infection, but I'd like to take some blood tests to make sure."

"And his condition?" asked Professor Goodwitch, both she and Ozpin being called down to meet with the new student. "Do we know what it is?"

Peach sighed, shooting a glance at the withdrawn boy next to her. "No, but I'd say it is most likely a rare strain of albinism."

"Rare enough that it has never been recorded?" Ozpin asked, even in all his years he had never heard of something like. Well, outside of Salem of course.

Peach shrugged. "Well, when you look like a humanoid Grimm I imagine most people stab first and ask questions later."

A shiver ran up the boy's spine and Goodwitch rubbed her temples. "Port, why did you bring him here again?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" he asked indignantly. "I couldn't just leave him there to waste away."

"Yes, from what Peter told me this young man might not have lasted much longer." Oobleck agreed, sipping a mug of Beacon's finest. "I'd imagine, given his condition, his location, and the local townsfolk, the boy might've not seen the end of the year."

Another shiver up the boy's spine, Peach hissed at both of them to choose their words more carefully. The five Beacon staff members huddled in the room, the young man tapping a white finger against the bench he sat upon.

"So then, what are we to do with him?" Professor Goodwitch asked, looking to the others in the room. "If we can't just turn him loose, and he has no real family what is our next course of action?"

There was a long pause, Ozpin and Port exchanging glances for awhile before Ozpin cleared his throat. He started to speak but choked on his words when Goodwitch's expectant gaze fell upon him. Port and Oobleck shuffled nervously, Glynda's hand already reaching for the bridge of her nose as Headmaster Ozpin began to speak.

"...Well, I _could_ use some extra help with the paperwork and whatnot."


	36. The Serial Killer's Hotline (Re-write)

**The Serial Killer's Hotline (Re-write):**

 **Vale, 1989. The city is in the midst of a proving ground of gangs, cartels, political alliances, and the culmination of decades of work all meeting together in one place. However, there are those who despise the city's newest rumblings and have decided to put an end to the half-veiled alliances and gangs. A young high schooler, Jaune "Jacket" Arc, has been receiving strange phone calls left on his answering machine leading him to multiple high-adrenaline, pulse-pounding, blood-filled shootouts. Will Jaune discover who is behind the calls? Or will his mysterious employers finally send him on one too many a job? Only time will tell...**

0-0-0-0

A single young man roamed the halls of Beacon Academy, his blonde hair swaying slightly with his step, as the people around him chatted about their day and what they would do when they got back to the dorms. For one Jaune Arc, though, his mind was preoccupied with disturbing visions of last night, a blur of neon lights, blood, and gunfire that refused to muddle into something clear.

There were impressions, flickers of sound and video that played back in his head a hundred times over. Somewhere, deep down, he knew what had happened last night even if the news of the Atlesian mobster's death wasn't plastered on every newspaper. Over his normal Beacon uniform, Jaune's beloved Letterman jacket sat wrapped around him, stainless from the night before.

"Did you hear? Apparently that Vale-Atlas alliance thing is supposed to come true!" he heard one student whisper.

"Really? Doesn't that mean a big hit for pretty much all the businesses here? Atlas has been wanting to get into our trade market for decades now." another one whispered back scandolously.

"That's nothing, I heard Weiss's dad is going ballistic about this whole thing. Weiss hasn't looked so ragged since I've seen her."

"Yeah, it sounds pretty bad to me."

"Hey Jaune!" a cheery voice called out from behind him.

Jaune forced himself around, face slightly rattled still, to see his friend Sun Wukong coming from behind him. The monkey faunus looked a little out of place with how loose his uniform was, but by this late in the year the teachers had grown tired of disciplining him for it. The fellow blonde brushed past the younger years around him to meet his friend halfway.

"So, I heard there's going to be a little bit of a rager at Nora and Ren's dorm room tonight. You in?" Sun asked, jabbing Jaune in the ribs with an elbow.

"I can't, I have... work to do." Jaune said just a little mechanically, mind still racing to catch up.

"Work? Pfft, come on man all the hottest babes are gonna be there! You know Ren's parents set him up with that awesome suite so we can have all the space to party dude!" Sun bawled, shaking his companion back and forth.

"I'm not looking for love Sun, and I really am probably going to be busy tonight." Jaune retorted, features slack. "Besides, you only want me there for a wingman don't you?"

Sun choked on his words. "Well I- ugh, I mean I guess...?"

Jaune face did not look impressed.

"Look man! This is my best chance to woo Blake and you're, like, the only dude who'll know me well enough there! Neptune is off visiting his parents and Sage and Scarlet are on a date tonight! Please, please, please do this for me?!" Sun bowed his head, hands locked in a praying position, as he pleaded with his friend.

Jaune sighed, worst-case scenario there would be an operator waiting for him at his apartment for blowing off a mission. Best-case scenario, this could turn out to be actually kind of fun. He thought about it for a moment, he _had_ just successfully completed his fourth job in a row so maybe they'd cut him a little bit of slack for one night.

"Fine, fine. If it'll stop your pathetic blubbering." Jaune surrendered, Sun's once prostrated form shooting up to hug his friend excitedly.

"Yes, yes, yes! I promise I'll make it up to you bro-seph. Hey, I'll be _your_ wingman for wooing Ms. Pyrrha Nikos." Sun wiggled an eyebrow seductively causing Jaune to groan in defiance.

"Dammit Sun, you know that I'm not after her."

"Oh, I know old friend. But, I also know, and so does everyone else, that that girl is super duper into you! It'd be a crime against humanity if you let that whole thing slide without _at least_ tapping that Nikos booty once." Sun raised his hand for a fist bump, Jaune left him hanging. "Whatever, be a stick in the mud but I assure you by the end of tonight you _will_ be thanking me."

Maybe the operator at his apartment was the best-case scenario...

0-0-0-0

Beacon Academy, being an illustrious boarding school, allowed for students to stay in the school's dorms for most of their time enrolled. However, if you were rich enough (Pyrrha, Weiss, Ren, Coco, etc) you could buy yourself a suite and share it with up to 5 people at a time. Or, you could opt to live outside of the campus grounds and simple rent your own apartment (Jaune, Cardin, Fox, Neptune, etc).

Well, Ren's apartment was ritzy in the way only a Mistrali apartment could be. Decorations of classical Mistrali artwork and architecture filled the high ceilings and walls, the rooms and facilities made to parallel what was no doubt familiar scenery to the young Mistral royalty. Lie Ren, and by extension his "retainer" Nora Valkyrie, were living it up on Beacon's campus grounds and everyone knew it.

Jaune had always respected Ren, that calm and cool demeanor in the face of his monumental responsibility. A lot of people wanted to get in good with Mistral's newest in line for governor of Kuroyuri, but Ren never let his influence go to his head. If anything, Jaune was assured the young man would make a fine leader one day.

"Ok dude, when I go into action I need you to be my hype man, ok?" Sun asked, adjusting his nice shirt once more. "How do I look? Do you think I used to much cologne?"

"Mhmm." Jaune hummed noncommittally.

"Dude! Get your head in the game! How. Do. I. Look?" Sun asked, pulling his friend's head into his face.

"Wha-? Fine, dude relax." Jaune said, shaking himself free. "Look, I'll go test the waters for you."

Jaune walked off, looking rather out of place in his casual attire among the more influential and sparkling people around him. A simple pair of jeans, a turquoise t-shirt, red converse, and, of course, his iconic Letterman jacket decorated the young man who weaved around people in fancy dress shirts and polos. Finally, he saw her, Blake Belladonna of the Belladonna family. The Belladonnas were infamous for once spearheading a faunus rights movement and are now in control of the largest faunus-populated city in the world.

Looking behind him, Jaune saw Sun give him an encouraging nod as the faunus hid behind a potted plant. Jaune took a deep breath and sighed before waltzing over to the girl who eyed him curiously as he approached.

"Hi, you must be Blake Belladonna." Jaune said a little stiffly, now that he thought of it what was he supposed to say?

"Yeah, and you must be Jaune Arc, right? Pyrrha told me quite a lot about you." ah, that was right. The rich of the rich at Beacon were basically like one big family, or perhaps like a hive mind of some sorts.

"Did she? Well, I don't suppose you've ever heard of guy named Sun?" Jaune shifted his coat. "Because I think he'd like to talk to you."

"He would? Well, why is that?" Blake asked, quietly probing for more information.

"Well, between you and me he might have a teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, massive crush on you." Jaune joked, earning a small huff from her. "Truth be told, I've known the guy for the better half of 5 years and let me tell you, the guy isn't the worst."

"Wow, what a stunning endorsement." Blake smiled slightly.

"I know right? What else could you want in a guy?" Jaune asked. "Anyways, if you could do me a major solid and just go talk to him, I would owe you. The guy has been pestering me non stop about wanting to meet you, I think he even spent several hours trying to put on the best cologne for you."

"Hmm, well he's certainly driven." Blake chuckled. "Oh fine, if it'll get him out from behind that plant I'll humor him."

They both said their goodbyes, Jaune milling around the room rather awkwardly as people came in and out of the lavish venue. Jaune idly chattered with some of the people he sort of knew, realistically Sun and Neptune were the two people he knew the best.

He had always had issues fitting in, in his younger years he was slightly neurotic and caused a lot of people to avoid him. By the time he entered Beacon, his neurosis had developed into a serious derealization disorder. Things around him felt detached, unreal as if he were simply in a dream and nothing around him was actually happening.

Then, the phone calls started coming in.

"-Jaune!" a light voice shook him away from his idling. Pyrrha Nikos, who had a not-so-secret crush on him, looked at him worriedly, one hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok? You started really spacing out there for moment."

"Y-Yeah, I was just... thinking." Jaune shook his head. "Sorry."

Pyrrha chuckled, having changed out of her uniform and into a nice red blouse and skirt. "It's fine, in fact I was wondering if you wanted to come see a movie with me this weekend. I was thinking that new Spruce Willis one."

"I, ugh, I'm not sure-"

"He means he's not sure what he would wear!" Sun Wukong, professional bastard and terrible person, crowed as he sidled up next to him. "He would love to go, right Jaune?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Wonderful!" Sun clapped a hand on his friend's chest. "I'll help you make plans bro."

Jaune was about to argue more but stopped when he was the beaming look on Pyrrha's face. Sighing and thinking that it could be just a one-off thing, Jaune nodded and the date was set. After that, however, Jaune excused himself and went home, complaining of a headache and driving his DeLorean back to his shabby apartment where pizza boxes were stacked high next to his video game system.

Luckily, no one was waiting inside with a gun but there was the familiar red blinking light on his answering machine. Jaune reached for it but hesitated at the last minute, briefly considering to _not_ pick up the call and perhaps he could just be done with it. However, Jaune knew that if he didn't listen to this message and do the job he'd wind up in a shallow grave by sunup.

Jaune clicked the machine and there was a loud beep before the message played.

 _"Hey there, we got a real mess over by the condos. We need you to clean it up, there's wet floors everywhere. Please, be quick about it too we have new tenants moving in soon. It's on 184th Street, go there now."_

Another beep to indicate the end of the machine, Jaune knelt down over a small box hidden in the absolute back of his locked closet. Opening the box revealed a simple chicken mask, one you might get at a party store, but to him this was his persona, his alias. Slipping it over his head, Jacket breathed deeply into the mask and, like always, contemplated his life choices. And, like always, he knew he had no choice.

This was his life, for as long as he could clearly remember his choices had always been dictated by these mysterious phone calls. One day they started coming in and they have never stopped since. Of course, like all his memories, there were faint blurs of static noise that attempted to blend together into something comprehensible, a bar, some drinks, a man, and a piece of paper. But, other than that, there was nothing.

Picking up his nifty voice recorder, Jaune clambered down the steps as quietly as possible to avoid attracting attention before hopping in his car and driving to 104th street...

0-0-0-0

The building certainly looked innocuous, he would give them that. Then again, it was innocuous in the sense that every other building looked just as drab and worn down as the red brick monstrosity he was staring into. Even so, he could hear the gaggle of scummy mobsters on the other side of the door, the lit interior giving it away as his target no doubt.

In his hand, Jacket held a baseball bat, his old Louisville slugger, and at his side was his faithful tape recorder. Breathing deeply, Jacket slowly felt that same sense of unreality overcome him, colors mashing together and the world around him devolving into a neon blur. He barely registered kicking in the door, or even how the force of it sent the unfortunate mobster in front of him flying into a table.

The others were slow, too slow to catch someone like him and by the time one of them had drawn a gun Jacket had easily clobbered two of his pals leaving a bloody streak across his mask. Jacket smacked the hand holding the gun into the air, a single shot ringing upwards and into the ceiling as the white jacketed criminal received a headache courtesy of his bat.

Overhead, the masked maniac could hear the shuffling and thumping of boots as the men above prepared themselves. Jacket picked up the pistol and hurried up the stairs, gunning down two unprepared mobsters along the way, the killer smashed the frail door off its hinges and sent the piece of wood rocketing into the face of an unfortunate man who had been guarding it.

Jacket rolled deftly underneath a hail of gunfire and matched it with a pair of precise shots that crumpled another one of the Atlesians. The remaining men in the room had begun to take cover, but not before another had fallen victim to a stray bullet. Fortunately for them, Jacket had run out of bullets, but unfortunately the chicken-masked man still held his trusty bat.

The poor criminal, with his fresh buzz cut hairdo, didn't even register what had happened as Jacket threw himself over the table he was hiding behind and crunched the man's head with a brutal swing. Whirling around, Jacket whipped the hunk of wood like a frisbee towards the criminal who had attempted to take him by surprise, and, as the trusty club crashed into the man's nose, Jacket had picked up the pistol and gunned down the currently injured man's comrade.

The mobster lay on ground, groaning in agony as his nose resembled a gnarled parody of a potato. Jacket, saying nothing, idly stalked over and mounted the man's chest with a familiar ease. Whatever the man beneath him was about to choke out was cut off as a fist wrapped into tape crashed into his head with all the force of a sledgehammer. After that, it had only taken two or three more hits before his head resembled something more akin to a crushed watermelon.

The world around Jacket surged with white noise and a neon whirlwind of colors and patterns, his mind starting to grow detached from himself. Picking the bloodied bat up, the hunk of wood warped in shape becoming large, larger than himself, no even larger than the room! The floor tilted beneath the masked killer's feet, thrown off kilter by some giant's idle pushing and with it Jacket could feel his body fall.

Round and round he tumbled through everything, a mess of colors like a drunken kaleidoscope. All the while, the unfortunate man in the jacket saw himself being drawn deeper inward to a bright world of strange feelings and sensations. Clips of conversation, idle audio and chatter, mixed with gross charicatures of people he knew and places he had been. Events play out in a sea of sickening greens and blues, and with each passing second he felt himself grow more and more distant-

His body reacted on its own, years of honed reflexes saving his life. The bullet whizzed harmlessly past, grazing his shoulder, while the suited assailant found a wrapped fist rocketing into his stomach. Jacket heard the man cough some expletive, but the man in the chicken mask could hardly be bothered to listen to him, instead he was drawn to the man's suit. Black, not white like the others which must mean he was different right? Like a video game, you know?

"Y-You fucking-" the man coughed up some spit. "Fucking animal-masked freaks! Fucking up my business, getting my ass in hot water who the fuck you think you are?!"

Jacket pulled out his tape recorder, dozens of lines recorded using a text-to-speech program. There was the mixed warbling as the tape rewound to the exact snippet he was looking for before he hit play.

 _Who are you?_ a polite, if rather emotionless, feminine voice asked over the tape.

"Me? Why the fuck do you wanna know? Fucking up my business and asking _me_ questions..." the man grumbled, or more or less groaned, to himself.

 _Who are you?_ the question was repeated, Jacket tapping his bloodied bat onto the suited man's knee.

The mobster seemed to get the gist. "I-I'm Vincenzo Martelli you fucking freak! I run this fucking joint, who the fuck are you!?"

 _Irrelevant_

"Irrelevant? What the fuck does that mean?" the man growled.

 _What are you doing here?_

"Fucking your mother."

The bat came down on the man's ankle, a sickening crunch resounded through the once furnished room. The Atlesian gangster howled expletives and threats at the stoic mask, threatening all sorts of nasty things.

 _What are you doing here?_

"I-I'm supposed t-to be running protection for these guys." the man breathed, watching the bat ominously. "The boss says they're important. Couple of guys in suits, said they were up from Atlas."

 _Elaborate._

"I-I don't know." the bat came of up again. "Jesus fucking christ man I swear! I fucking swear on my mother that I don't know anything!"

 _Thank you for you time._

The bat came down again, hard and fast as it caved the mobster's skull in. Jacket stumbled through the shattered door, the twilight giving him a cloak to hide from anyone watching him. He hopped into the car and sped out of the scene of the crime, the din of police sirens starting to fill the night air from far away...

0-0-0-0

Jaune stumbled through his apartment's door, taking extra caution to hide himself from view due to the numerous blood stains on his jacket. Slamming the damn thing the young man made it halfway across the floor before he felt it coming on, unable to help himself the blonde students hurled all over the shabby tile floor. Doubled over and gagging, looking into a puddle of wine coolers and pizza chunks, Jaune felt another blur of noise surround him.

Another episode, and he wouldn't be able to take it this time. Jaune stumbled into his bathroom and wrenched open the cabinet, snagging a bottle of pills he down three or four before hiding away his bloodied clothes and falling upon his bed. His room distorting into a nightmarish wonderland as sleep mercifully took hold...

...

 **Tell me, do you recognize me?** _a familiar man in a chicken mask asked, reclining in his chair. **I believe we have met before, young man.**_

 _"Hmm, it seems like he might be remembering something." a dainty young woman in a horse mask commented. "And yet, that look in his eyes. He may be worse off than we initially thought..."_

 ** _I don't know you,_** _a suited man in an owl's mask growled._ ** _You're... not a nice person, are you?_**

 _"Acknowleding one's self, means acknowledging one's actions. And, as of late, you've done some terrible things..."_

 **You don't remember me? I'll give you a clue, does April the third mean anything to you? That was the day we first met. You look like you might be remembering something...**

0-0-0-0

 _"Breaking news!" the anchor said, standing outside a familiar building. "It appears that this house located on 104th street was just subject to a vicious attack by what police believe to be the same individual or individuals who have been targeting Atlesian mobsters. Reports say that there were screaming and gunshots at this location not 4 hours ago when police received the first call."_

 _The woman walked over to a grubby woman who sat smoking a cigarette. The anchor held the microphone over to the other woman before asking her question._

 _"Ma'am, you claim that you saw the assailant leaving the scene of the crime. Can you describe them please?" the purple haired news anchor asked._

 _The woman took another long drag before answering. "Well, I come out of my house, hearing all these damn gunshots, to see some fucking six foot motherfucking monster leaving in a sports car."_

 _"Monster? Can you please elaborate?"_

 _"I mean, it looked like a human but its head was all misshapen. Lumpy and protruding at these weird angles, it was dark out you see and my vision's not the best but I knew there was something wrong with that dude."_

 _"And you said he was leaving in a sport's car?"_

 _"Yeah, I saw him leaving in that damn thing but, like I said, I couldn't see worth a damn so I don't know what type it was."_

 _"Well, thank you for your time ma'am." the anchor turned back to the camera. "There you have it folks, the investigation is still underway for whomever has been committing these atrocious crimes. The chief of police of Vale is issuing a statement on Monday, and you are encouraged to call 1-800-867-5309 if you know anything about these murders. Back to you Cyril..."_


	37. The Shadow Over Beacon (3)

**The Shadow Over Beacon:**

 **With his parents captured by the strange townsfolk, Jaune must steel his nerve and brave the odd harbor town to rescue them. He makes plans to build up some allies before then, offering a way out to a familiar drunk. With time not on his side and the odd sensations and eerie feelings he's getting, Jaune must act fast to save his family. From what, he does not know. But, by now Jaune has noticed how the townsfolk act, how they seem to be eerily fixated on that symbol of there's, and how the church seems to be the center of it all. Bracing himself the young man ventures forth, into a fate too diabolical to speak of.**

0-0-0-0

The silver haired freak didn't even hear me coming, and by the time my arm wrapped around his neck there was no escape. I dragged the young man into a nearby alleyway before depositing him roughly onto the asphalt with a grunt. I had taken shelter under a small overhang and stood menacingly over the now shaking guy, he seemed to recognize me and was about to say something but I beat him to it.

"Where are you taking my parents you pale bag of shit." I growled, hauling him up and slamming him against the old brick of a nearby building.

The ghastly man seemed to stammer out a reply, only making coherent sentences when I slammed him again against the wall. "I-I don't know what you're talking about man! I was just out for a walk, I swear!"

"A walk? Because of the nice weather right?" I punched him hard in the stomach, earning a wheeze. "Don't fuck with me pal those are my parents, and I'll tear this place apart if I have to you-"

"The church!" he cried out, hands blocking the expectant punch. "If they're being taken anywhere then it's the church!"

"The church? Why?" I asked, remembering how odd it seemed to be at the time.

"Everything that goes down is at the church, it's our..." he seemed to search for a word until I raised my fist again. "I-It's like a community hub, man! Like, if people are going to meet up it's always at the church!"

I hummed for a moment, knowing these circus freaks that place would be crawling with them. And without a lot of weapons, or an ally, it'd be suicide to try and charge that place, I'd end up on an altar before morning. I rubbed my chin as the man below me cowered, thinking on it for a moment if I let him go he'd raise hell throughout the town, but could I really shoot him?

Regardless of the moral aspect to that dilemma, I'd be wasting one of my few remaining bullets. If I killed some nobody here would that mean I wouldn't have a bullet when facing down some summoned demon or whatever? Deciding it wasn't worth it, I slammed the grip of my gun down on the man's head, action movie style and knocked him out swiftly.

Well, actually I saw a lot of dark blood ooze down his head and hair but I'm pretty sure he was unconscious for now. Still, this presented yet another dilemma for me, this rain provided good camo but if I didn't find Qrow soon we'd both be in deep shit. Now that I had time to think, I had begun to feel this deep pit in my stomach, a dark hole that had opened up ever since I found out I was walking in circles.

Sticking to the alleyways, I slowly maneuvered around town as fast as I could. Occasionally I would see one or two townsfolk walking about, seemingly enjoying the massive downpour and conversing with eachother. It all seemed very odd, the way they seemed so close to humans but then you started to really look at them, the angles of the face, the skin, even veins just started getting more and more... odd.

It would have been fascinating if it weren't for the fact I was pretty sure they were evil. Eventually I snuck my way back into the park, where I had originally found Qrow, and began to snoop around trying to find the drunken man and ask for his help. By the time I arrived back at the bench I had originally found him, there were two of those freaks in his stead.

I recognized one, that green guy, the giant one, from before. With him was another woman in a dark brown beret and a matching corset, the two seemed to be conversing and, against my better judgement, I inched forward to listen to them over the rain.

"-Geez Yatsuhashi, weren't you supposed to mellow that dude out?" the girl asked the giant next to her. Both were taking refuge under a large tree as they sent on the bench,

"Hmm, Pyrrha has said that he reacted most... disagreeably. I have a feeling that we might have scared him off." "Yatsuhashi" apparently, stated.

 _No shit, oh yeah "let's hunt down the new guy and try and abduct him guys!"_ Jaune thought to himself sardonically. The two continued to talk, unbeknownst to their third party.

"Well whatever the case, he's bound to wind up back here when he figures out the barrier." the beret girl said, flicking back a lock of hair. "Once that happens we just need to run him down and tell him the score of things."

"Yatsuhashi" frowned slightly. "I still don't know about this Coco, we could be sending him the wrong message. We haven't exactly been acting very trustworthy."

"Yeah well, he shot at Russel so he's not acting very trustworthy either." Coco scoffed. "Whatever, I just hope this'll be over soon, I've been waiting all my life for this moment and I don't want it ruined because this guy started getting antsy."

I scowled at their conversation, it seems they had taken special interest in me, more so than I originally thought. Call it superstition, but I had a feeling they needed _me_ specifically for whatever godforsaken ritual they wanted to do. Yatsuhashi shifted slightly and seemed to focus on the rain, white skin seemingly radiating light as he inclined his head.

"He was speaking with Qrow earlier." was all he said, but the simple sentence caused Coco to scowl something fierce.

"Ah, that my explain why he's so freaked out. Stupid drunk always prattling on about how "evil" or "demonic" we are, like he doesn't know the beauty of the goddess." she spat. "Probably told the guy a shit ton of lies just to scare him off, fucking asshole."

"Yes, I heard the elders have finally had enough and had him taken down below." Yatsuhashi nodded sagely.

Down below? Were they torturing the poor guy just for talking to me? Either way, I had a new objective: find Qrow and have him help me get out of here with my family. If they had taken him "down below" perhaps I should try and sneak into the church, it seemed as likely a place as any for this "down below" to be located.

Coco sneered. "Ha, perfectly ironic if you ask me. Sewage dying amongst sewage, sounds like how he'd want to go out."

Sewage? They must mean the sewers beneath the town, although that realization didn't comfort me any. I needed to find a way down there and rescue Qrow, before they killed him or ate him or some equally horrible fate. I slowly started to crawl away but froze at the sound of a twig snapping, looking down in abject horror, the remains of a small branch lay snapped beneath my knee. I could hear the two freaks behind me move from their spot, the feeling of two bodies starting to close in on me.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Yatsuhashi asked to the tree I hid behind.

"Tch, it's probably just that Cardin creep trying to spy on me again. Hey, Cardin! If it is you I'm going to kick your ass so hard you'll have to sit on your eyes!" Coco growled, marching in front of her friend towards me.

I was fucked, if I bolted now they'd catch me no matter which direction I took off in. I only had one choice now, even if the thought of it did make me want to vomit. Steeling my nerve I got to my feet as fast as possible and stepped out from behind the tree, gun raised at the two ghostly people. The effect was immediate, Coco stopped in her tracks and Yatsuhashi's mouth settled into a thin line.

"W-Woah man, take it easy-" Coco started but I cut her off.

"Shut the fuck up!" I snarled, causing the girl to flinch. "You're gonna tell me everything I want to know, or I'll send both your asses to hell here and now."

Yatsuhashi raised his hands trying to calm me. "Ok, go ahead and ask your questions. But please, don't do anything you might regret."

"Where did you take my parents?" I asked, shaking the gun at him.

"Your parents? I heard some word of two travelers coming to town, if they're related to you they must've been taken into the church." Coco butted in, looking between the two of us warily. "Look, they'll let you inside if you just ask, there's no need to threaten us."

"Yeah? And I'm sure we'll all sit down for a nice long chat and some tea, will we?" I laughed just a tad crazily. "Nah, I know you freaks probably plan to sacrifice me to some weird elder god of yours."

Yatsuhashi blanched, if that were possible given his skin, and recoiled. "N-No, sir, you misunderstand us. We mean you absolutely no harm, and we would never even think of harming you or your own. Please, allow us to take you to your parents and we can sort this out."

"I don't think so asshole, so here's question number two: Where can I find Qrow?" Yatsuhashi swallowed and looked to his friend who just shook her head.

"I- Sir believe me Qrow is _not_ the person you should be talking to-" he was cut off by the hammer of the gun clicking back. "I-I believe they took him down into the sewers, but it would be a fool's errand to try and navigate that place without our help."

"I don't need your or anyone of your kind's _help_ thank you very much." I spat, slowly stepping back before bolting across the park back to the safety of the alleys.

As I ran I glimpsed the two behind me run off in a different direction, most likely to scrounge up some more people to come find me. I sprinted forward, looking for the nearest manhole cover I could pry open until I saw it at the end of a crumbling street. I dashed towards it, hoping to make it before anyone could learn my location, but life was not so kind to me.

Stepping out from what looked to be a tailors, the girl with the red hair and green eyes exited the shop with a small bag. She was directly in my way and I had no time to try and talk my way out of this, she turned to me and flashed a smile. It died an ugly death when I leveled the gun at her face and screamed at her to move, she did so, with great haste, and I sped past her. I reached the manhole cover and, with a strength I jotted down to pure adrenaline, I ripped it off and jumped in, not making myself hesitate at the awful stench.

Cursing at myself for not closing it, I sped off along the edge of the large tunnel, vaguely hearing some distressed calls from the girl I had shoved past. I ignored them, and drove deeper into the sewers, hoping beyond all hope that I'd find Qrow before it was too late...

0-0-0-0

I ran for what must have been an hour straight, my adrenaline keeping me from getting tired or even sweaty during the entire time. Looking down, I noticed that the running had caused me to grow a tad bit pale at the exertion, forcing me to stop and catch my breath. I looked all over the place and didn't even hear so much as a peep from Qrow or any other villagers. Occasionally I'd hear the clamoring footsteps of those who ran over the manhole I dashed under, but other than that it had been total silence in the labyrinth.

That was until I heard the gruff cursings of a familiar man from nearby. Qrow's voice echoed throughout the network of tunnels and I resumed my run in an attempt to locate their source, eventually I came upon a scene where below, in what looked to be a large room, Qrow sat tied to a chair and surrounded by older townsfolk.

"Y-You bastard, lemme outta here!" Qrow thrashed back and forth, earning the disapproving looks of the cultists around him. "When I get outta here I'm gonna rip your fucking heads off!"

"This could have been so simple Qrow, we allowed you to remain the drunken fools of the town despite the high priestess's wishes so long as you didn't cause trouble. But we cannot, however, overlook you planting such filthy lies into Jaune's head." oh fuck, they knew my name. That's changed the battlefield a little bit, but I continued to spy on them regardless, waiting for a moment to strike.

"I didn't tell him any lies! You fucking creeps have been brainwashed by that degenerate religion of Rose's!" Qrow howled in rage, earning a punch to his jaw for his trouble.

"How dare you!" a younger man seethed, only stopped by the apparent ring leader. "Our goddess saved this town, our very souls you ungrateful wretch!"

Holy shit, these people really were crazy. It was one thing to see it, but to hear someone go so absolutely fucking nuts over some "goddess" really made my stomach churn, these guys full on were about to slaughter Qrow for simply not submitting to their cult! I withdrew the gun, and aimed downwards, although I decided to let things play out a little longer. I needed as much info as possible.

"Enough," the ring leader stated, towering over the bound man. "Qrow you know I can't simply let you continue like this."

"Fuck you Jimmy." was all Qrow responded with.

The man ignored it. "Since we were friends at one point, I'll offer you one last chance to rejoin our glorious religion."

"Fuck you James! My wife "disappears" just because she didn't agree with you batfuck crazy religion and you motherfuckers conspire to throw me outta my own goddamn home, and now you have the nerve to demand I join your lunatic cult! You're outta your fucking mind Jimmy, go ahead and kill me you useless fuck! Let me go home to my sweet Winter." by the end of Qrow's tirade his tone had burnt itself out and he hung his head low.

"Hmm," James hummed to himself. "Disappointing to say the least, but unavoidable."

He raised a gun to Qrow's head, the man below resigning himself. I needed to act, and fast.

"Hey!" I shouted as loudly as possible. The echo of my voice filling the room with a thunderous roaring.

As one, the three of them turned around and it wasn't until James caught my face that he lowered the gun with a jovial smile.

"Ah, Jaune. I'm so glad you could join us-" I cut him off with a gunshot. The bullet piercing his exposed chest, gun dropping uselessly to the cement floor.

The two others, too shocked to even move made for easy targets. They fell with two more cracks and the only one left now was Qrow and I, we eyed eachother momentarily before I doubled over with a gasp. I retched violently before dumping whatever contents I still had in my stomach onto the floor, trying to block out the image of the three dead things before me.

Qrow let me calm myself down before he motioned for me to untie him. I did and the two of us shared a look, he seemed to unsure as to what to say before he shook his head and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks kid, glad to see I wasn't the only sane one in town." he smirked roguishly.

"Yeah well, you won't have to stick around this dump for much longer. We just need to grab my parents and get the fuck out of here."

He nodded with a frown. "They're probably at the church, heard ol' James talking about it."

"But why? What could they want with my parents?" I asked him, looking for answers.

He seemed at a lost for words for a moment, two answers warring in his mind before he shrugged. "I guess they think they can draw you in there if they have your parents kid."

"Yeah well, they're damn right." I picked up the dropped gun and checked it for bullets.

A full clip, and another one on the dead man that Qrow kindly looted for me. I shoved the other pistol into the waistband of my pants as Qrow picked up a bowie knife off the body of some green haired kid.

"You any good with that?" I asked incredulously, eyeing him warily.

He chuckled with a smile. "Kid I was a hobo, part of the job is knowing your way around knives."

"Well, I guess it's off for the church then." I chuckled back.

I stifled it as my phone buzzed in my pocket, warranting me to open it up to see my parents calling. A dark knot tied itself in my stomach as I felt the device buzz once more in my grip, hesitantly I opened it and put my dry lips up to it.

"Hello?" I croaked out, there was silence on the other end before someone came on.

 _"Mister Arc, it's so good to finally make your acquaintance. My name is Summer Rose, and I am the mayor of this fine town."_ "Summer" stated cheerily. _"I've come to understand you're just a little bit jumpy, perfectly understandable we haven't been the best hosts. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, all of which I can answer if you simply come to the church. Your parents are here too and they're being taken care of most assuredly, they're waiting for you themselves."_

"Let me talk to them." I ground out, teeth clenched at the words.

 _"Oh dear I am so sorry, but if you want to come speak with them then you just come right here to the church and they'd be happy to catch up."_ she waited for a moment to see if I would talk, after a period of silence she spoke again. _"Mister Arc...? What are you going to do?"_

I licked my lips for a moment, eyes flicking towards Qrow who nodded in solidarity, before answering.

"What am I gonna do? I'm gonna rip your fucking spine out I swear to god." I let that hang in the air for a moment before ending the call...

0-0-0-0

 **I believe it was one Vanitas50 who asked for another installment of this series. Honestly, it's been too long since this one got an update, Beacon in the Night as well so if you're a fan of that stay tuned! Of course, Serendipitous House Pet and I have engaged in a new telling of "Needle in a Haystack" renamed "A One in a Million". I'll be beta'ing for it next chapter so stay tuned folks, and go check it out!**

 **Until then!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	38. The Homeless Emperor

**Ok, before anyone says anything yes this chapter is based off of One Punch Man. It's a good manga and I loved Homeless Emperor as a character. Something about a character that should be so innocuous, weak you know, instead being a lethal powerhouse is personally one of my favorites. If I had my own manga, I'd be sure to have someone like Homeless Emperor in it as a dangerous, only instead I'd have him/her use their crown as a weapon or a boomerang. Like a homeless Captain America. Anyways I'm rambling, so I just want to let you all know that I'll be betaing for Serendipitous in the next chapter of "One in a Million".**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 **The Homeless Emperor:**

 **Jaune Arc was just a tramp, a vagrant and a bum who drifted in the slums of Vale. No family, no home to speak, he was about as weak and pathetic as one could get. Operative word being** ** _was,_** **as one day he was visited by a being that could only be described as a god. She gave him the power to rise up from his station, to become the king, the ruler, he was meant to be. He'll reclaim his throne, even if he must go through some huntsmen to do it.**

0-0-0-0

In the residential area of Vale, on the corner of a convenience store, sat a huddled bundle of clothes that shivered against a breezeless day. Jaune Arc, professional bum 4 years and running, silently cursed his miserable life. Ousted from his family, ousted from his work, hell, ousted from society really he sat with a small case next to him and a humorous sign that read: _"Deposed Prince, 1 Lien=1 step closer to reclaiming my kingdom"_. Occasionally some merciful passerby would drop a single lien into the small box and Jaune would look up at them with a smile, his surprisingly realistic crown moving atop his head.

The sun was starting to set, in a few hours he would return to his home under the bridge and restlessly sleep until tomorrow where he would begin all over again. It was a vicious cycle really, but one that he had become accustomed, even complacent in his poverty. Wrapping the tattered remains of a red cape around his body, the young man balled up deeper into his grimy brown coat, white hood hanging limply over top his aforementioned cape. Suddenly, he heard the clacking footsteps of someone else- no, a group of people, getting closer to his little spot. Making himself look as poor and miserable as possible, Jaune waited for them to turn the corner and hopefully throw some lien his way.

Soon enough, a group of four young women made the turn and locked eyes with his form. The one leading the pack, a girl with a red cape not unlike his own, stopped for a moment, forgetting what she was saying before digging into her wallet for some money.

"Ruby," a girl with white hair sighed. "You shouldn't encourage him."

"Ruby" huffed but didn't listen. "The poor guy is probably cold Weiss, plus he has a cool cape like myself!"

Weiss rubbed her forehead and looked to a blonde bombshell who shrugged. "What can I say princess? Ruby always had a soft spot for helping others."

Ruby walked up to the blonde man and placed perhaps 10 lien into the small case. Jaune eyed the rather extraordinary amount of lien thrown his way before looking up to the girl who smiled brightly at him.

"I like your cape mister!" she chirped happily, and despite himself, Jaune found that he cracked a smile as well.

"You too ma'am, not often you find someone with such good fashion sense." he joked in a rather gruff voice.

"Ruby! Let's go, the restaurant isn't going to be open all night!" Weiss called to her, tapping a rather expensive watch on her wrist.

"Fine fine you big meanie." she laughed, looking back to Jaune one more time. "I'll see you around mister, take care!"

She waved goodbye as she rejoined her friends, Jaune waving back in a daze. Usually people paid him no mind, the common conception was that if you didn't work you were no better than Grimm bait. But this Ruby, she actually spoke to him like he wasn't a gutter rat! Jaune found himself without breath for a moment before deciding to head home for the day before his luck gave out from under him.

On his way back home, he took his favorite shortcut through the park and stopped by one of the vendors there to see if he had any discount stuff. One hotdog on a stale bun later he could see his small bundle of cardboard and wooden palettes off in the distance. It was no sooner that he took a single step that he heard it, _her._

 _"Why do you cling to scraps?"_

The voice was loud, authoritative. It commanded a respect and a fear the likes of which he had never heard before, the single sentence filled his thoughts and almost sent him to his knees. Instead, he stayed upright somehow on a pair of shaky legs, case of money tucked tightly beneath his arm.

"W-Who's there? I-I'm warning you if you're trying to take my money I'll-"

 _"Your money?"_ the voice seemed to ask in disbelief before cawing out a laugh. _"No no child, I have no need for your people's feeble currency."_

"W-Who are you? Show yourself!" Jaune asked, whipping his head around the alleyway he had tucked himself in.

 _"Hmm? Show myself? Well, if you insist..."_ the voice trailed off before the world around him exploded into white light. Jaune's knees hitting the floor as he gazed up at the visage that could only be described as a goddess. She was immaculate, beautiful beyond any sense of the word with a cascade of flowing white hair and perfect skin, a pair of gleaming orange eyes that reminded him of the sun stared down.

"My god..." Jaune breathed out, case of money having fallen to the concrete.

 _"Goddess child. Your goddess. I have seen your suffering and have come to offer guidance and strength."_ the figure smiled warmly, rays of light coming down upon him.

"I-I don't-"

 _"I know you don't understand child, it's ok. No one does as first. But you, you are made for bigger things than this."_ the goddess insisted, splaying her arms wide around her.

"I-I am?" Jaune asked in disbelief, crown hanging off his head.

 _"Yes Jaune, I have foreseen that you have a great destiny ahead of you. You are to become a great king of Vale!"_ she proclaimed with a holy zeal, voice like a siren's song calling out to him.

"A... King...?" Jaune breathed, voice coming out in a near whisper.

The Goddess smiled. _"Yes Jaune, I have come to push you along that path. To take back this kingdom, to take it back for your people."_

"My people?" Jaune mimicked dumbly, unable to do more than repeat her words.

 _"The destitute, the forgotten, those who have been trampled upon by the whims of the council. They need you, those who cling to the edge of hope need you, and those who are only a moment's away from becoming like your people need you. You cannot allow such blatant disregard for humanity to go on, even the Grimm do not cause such suffering in people."_

"Yeah..." Jaune stated. "Yeah, you got a point there."

The Goddess smiled victoriously. _"I knew you would see logic child, the council, and by extension Ozpin and his school, have done nothing but keep you down in this world. Once you were of no use to them they tossed you aside, happy to let you die in the streets like a dog. I ask you, does this sound like a fair and benevolent leadership to you?"_

"No, of course not." Jaune frowned, straightening himself a little bit.

 _"Is it fair that you have been cast away from the rest of society?"_

"No, it isn't!" Jaune nodded, features forming a scowl.

 _"And so isn't it only right that you take back this kingdom and reform it to help others?"_

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with trying to help people is there? Who are they to say who should die and who should live?" Jaune half shouted to his goddess who nodded in agreement.

 _"I knew you were a smart child, I could not agree more. But, the fact of the matter is there are too many powerful people looking to impede your progress Jaune. On your own you could never even hope to amount to their combined might."_

Jaune deflated a little at that, the truth casting a cold stone at his glass house. "You're right, it's a hopeless endeavor."

 _"Chin up child, all is not loss. You forget, there is a goddess on your side to help guide you."_ the pristine figure chuckled. _"I have ways of empowering you with my holy wrath. If you agree, you will channel my will and make it your own."_

"Of course! I will loyally serve you and carry out your will my goddess!" Jaune replied enthusiastically. "Please make me your instrument of holy wrath!"

 _"As you wish child,"_ the figure nodded with a bright smile. _"I will unlock the power hiding deep within you, and in doing so, I will unlock your true potential."_

A glowing hand came to rest on the young vagrant's head, crown glowing a stark white and giving him a glowing halo. The young man accepted it all with a smile, feeling, for the first time in his life, a true sense of purpose.

 _"For it is in victory that we achieve greatness. Through this, we become a paragon of righteousness and divinity to strike down those who stand defiant. Infinite in power and unbound by fear, I release your soul, and by my hand, grant thee this power."_

There was an overpowering burst of light that would have probably lit up all of Vale had he been able to see it, and with it came such an intense rush of power his heart skipped a beat. He felt his master's greatness and strength fill his every being, her essence becoming the sword with which he would take back this world. His skin and crown glowed a translucent white, pupils inseparable from the color of his sclera. Eventually the light died down, and Jaune was left once again breathless and at a loss of words.

 _"Now child, go forth and use all that I have given you."_

Jaune hesitated before reaching up to his newfound goddess. "Wait! What am I to do now? Where am I to go?"

 _"I have other agents of my will in this city, I will have them find you. Together, you will enact my will upon this world and, in time, reclaim the kingdom you so desire. I will forever be intertwined with your consciousness, go now..."_

The light dissipated, and with it her visage disappeared. Jaune was alone now, case of money laying scattered across the pavement, he adjusted his crown and fixed his cape before leaving the small alleyway...

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 **Ok, this is a super short one-shot that is more for a story beginning. I could have written more but it just didn't work, if you like this idea then props to you go ahead and take it if you want. I promise that next time it'll be a much better and longer chapter.**


	39. Adventures in Godhood

**Ok, this idea came to me in a dream so please understand it might be a little... off. Anyways, if u want to have a sequel to one of these one-shots go ahead and put your desired one down below in the reviews. Other than that, I guess I should warn you that this one isn't wholly about Jaune.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

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 **Adventures in Godhood: The world is a strange and mysterious place, with beings of unimaginable power ruling over the humans that populate the planet. Some of these beings strive for justice, honor, peace, and prosperity while others yearn for chaos, destruction, death, and general mayhem. These forces contend with eachother for control over Remnant, but among these two factions there exists a third, the neutrals who desire nothing but what they personally want. With the next Divine Summit being held, ideals clash and sparks are bound to fly.**

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"Order! Order, I say!" an authoritative voice demanded to the crowd of teeming deities. "The 189th Divine Summit will now be underway, please fine your designated seat within your faction. If you have a claim you would like to make, please, first, list your name, jurisdiction, faction, and pantheon for the hearing. We will now begin with opening statements from the faction representatives."

The grizzled man who was speaking nodded to the figure to his left, a young man with a wave of flowing blue hair and wearing a perfectly red jacket that highlighted his dreamy eyes. The man nodded back and cleared his throat to speak-

"Thank you Lord Ironwood," he began. "I am Neptune, Mistrali God of the Sea and a member of the Order faction. We would like to begin by demanding suitable compensation for the recent loss of the Ellipses Peninsula that was destroyed in a recent skirmish between Tyrian of the Chaos Faction and Qrow of the Order Faction."

A round of murmurs erupted between the three dominant parties, the order faction, chaos faction, and neutral faction respectively, as they all discussed the matter in depth between eachother. Eventually, after a moment of heated argument between the members of the Chaos Faction, their representative cleared his throat and answered.

"Watts, Atlesian God of Technology and member of the Chaos Faction." he introduced himself, speaking with a regal air. "We of the Chaos Faction deny such a request, on the grounds that Tyrian did not initiate the fight."

Another round of murmurs, though much shorter as it was cut off.

"Inconceivable, Qrow had no reason to engage with Tyrian and, furthermore, given the man's occupation as the Vacuan God of Battle and Mayhem, we are inclined to believe otherwise." Neptune argued back, pointing an accusing finger at the man in question.

"We have multiple sources stating otherwise, claiming that Qrow initiated the fight in a drunken stupor." Watts dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"No doubt more of your underhanded tricks." snickered a voice from the other side of the speaker who turned red.

"I will not have my party's name slandered by the wretched drunk!" Watts howled in anger. "Your people have done nothing but antagonize my faction in an attempt to goad us into war!"

"Do you have any claims for that?" Ironwood, the elected speaker for the assembly and Atlesian God of War, asked.

Watts sneered at the man. "The writing is on the wall Ironwood, do not attempt to say otherwise."

The proceedings were cut off as a rumble shook the very walls of the building. Many of the assembled Gods and Goddesses heaving a collective sigh as they all awaited for the figure to undoubtedly enter in a raucous and interrupting fashion. As if on cue, the doors slammed open and a young blonde man wearing a brown jacket and green flannel shirt, a double sided axe slung over his shoulder.

"Jaune!" a graying man with a lion's tale demanded as he slammed his hand down on his desk. "Where have you been!? The proceedings have already started!"

Jaune Paul of the neutral faction rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes, well, I had been spending my week in the mountains and it had totally slipped my mind that the Summit was today. So when I found out I raced over here as fast as possible!"

Leonardo, Mistrali God of Diplomacy and Art, sighed, his tail going limp, and motioned for the young man to join his respective faction. Jaune saluted him and bounded over to his assigned seat next to an equally blonde man with a monkey tale whose name was listed as: "Sun Wukong, Mistrali Monkey King of the North".

"Hello old friend!" Sun whispered excitedly to his cohort with a fist bump. "Proceedings have been quite stuffy without you. I swear, this Watts guy is stuffier than Ren!"

"A feat that alone should earn him the title of God!" Jaune snickered back, the two losing interest in the quarrels of the two factions. "How goes the North old friend?"

Sun shrugged. "Eh, not much happening when all you have is mountains and forests. I swear, Yang got the coolest direction, what with being the Southern Aspect and getting to at least fight wayward monsters now and then."

Jaune cracked a toothy grin. "Aye, been spending my time fishing for good game or constructing homes for those frontier humans. I swear, without me they'd perish in an instant!"

"True that." the monkey king whispered back, both of them drawn by the sound of heated arguments.

"I will not stand for such blatant disrespect of my faction!" growled Watts, the aforementioned Tyrian and Qrow standing behind their respective representatives. "I demand the charges be dropped immediately or face threat of war!"

"I-" Neptune began before being cut off by the leader of the Valechan Pantheon and subsequent leader of the Order Faction, Ozpin.

"So be it, the charges shall be dropped." Ozpin nodded sagely, Watts exhaling before sitting down with a curt nod. "But, there are still many more issues to press forward. For instance, Pyrrha believes her followers, the Amazons, have been encroached upon by your god of the sea..."

Jaune began to zone out, not because he didn't care but... it was just so boring! Could they make these issues seem any drier? It turns out, being a God isn't as cool as it should have been, instead of feats of strength and divine intervention everything has devolved into a nonstop drive of bureaucracy. Ever since they "slayed" the primordials things have gotten so boring.

Nowadays everyone has to be in a faction and if you don't say you're in one the other just lump you into one even if you don't like it. Idly, Jaune wondered how Ren and Nora were doing as he eyed them from their stands on the Order Faction's side. As far back as he could remember they were his best friends, the Atlesian Goddess of Strength and the Mistrali Aspect of the West made an interesting pair and a surprising one as well. They had served to strengthen ties between the two with Jaune Paul, unintentionally, playing the third party of Vale in the pseudo-alliance.

Jaune thought back to his youth, when he was but a young god of the frontier who did what he wanted to as a free spirit. Stomping his way across the continent and occasionally visiting his old pal Neptune in the heart of the sea. He once created mountains out of piles of dirt and dug up massive reservoirs of water for the people of Vacuo who had been dying of thirst while their gods made "it's complicated" statements. He swore, if there was one thing he could not stand it was idle inaction while other suffered.

He remembered how they told him that the water was "too deep" or it would require "too much strength" when he had only needed to dig his massive hands into the scorching sand and created a massive oasis for the people of Vacuo. Those uptight prudes did not like him very much for that, giving him the cold shoulder and treat him harshly whenever he trekked to Vacuo. Hmph, let them be envious of his obvious refined intellect, it was nothing but pathetic for them. He caught Pyrrha's eye, the Mistrali Goddess of Victory and Battle, who gave a silent sighed and nodded her heads to the heated talks between the two factions.

 _I know right?_ Jaune mouthed back silently, staring amazed at how much these ancient windbags could say in a single moment. Pyrrha had been another childhood friend, in fact, she had been the one who discovered him lying asleep beneath the mountains when he was first found. They thought him an honest to god primordial at first before he convinced them otherwise with his labors and good deeds.

The primordials.

That was a way to kill the mood. Embodiments of destruction, more so than the entire Chaos Faction could ever hope to be, and creatures of unimaginable power who had been birthed by the swirling Chaos and Aether of beyond Remnant. They had once threatened to destroy the planet before the gods and goddesses of the world banded together and smote them down.

Or, at least, attempted too when they found out that primordials couldn't really be "killed" but instead reset to a base state. Fortunately, they could easily be bound in this state and so the most powerful gods and goddesses buried them beneath the planet where they stay to this day. Then of course there were peace talks and diplomacy and international issues and blah, blah, blah...

It was all dreadfully boring and it made Jaune release a stifled yawn that was mimicked by his partner next to him. For once, he just wished that _something_ would happen at these godforsaken (hehe) meetings.

The entire building shook a lot more violently than before, desks even being sent off kilter and a few immortals being sent to the floor. There was a brief moment of calm before Watts turned to face Ozpin and, with a sneer on his face, sent a wave of blinding electricity at the man.

Then things all went to hell, the gods of both Chaos and Order launched themselves at eachother even as summoned minions of various _other_ gods flooded the room in an attempt to protect their masters. Jaune smiled a completely surprised smile at his friend who mimicked it, finally something was happening and it was even a massive fight! Sun Wukong scanned the room to find their enemy before pointing at a cluster of Vacuan minor gods who were ganging up on Blake, Valechan Goddess of Thieves and Cats unsuprisingly.

"I call dibs!" Jaune shouted, momentarily cutting off Sun who grumbled in response. Jaune Paul leaped from his spot, axe in hand, over to the young cat goddess who stood backed into a corner.

She hissed lowly. "I should have known your people would betray us, it was only a matter of time."

One of the bigger gods assembled before her laughed heartily. "Don't take it personally kiddo, your faction was going to do the same to us. Think of this as a preemptive strike, chaos style."

Blake would have rebutted that claim until they were both stopped short by the sound of a man's roaring coming towards them. Blake turned to see her fellow Valechan god charging the group of enemies, his axe gleaming brightly in the light that came through the room. The leader of the small band of chaos agents barely had time to call out before the large axe sunk into his shoulder, mortally wounding him.

"Have at you!" the blonde man shouted, cleaving the nearest goddess next to him in two.

"Holy shit!" one of them, a god named Lobos, shouted as he reared back for a punch.

It connected and Jaune was sent rocketing back into the wall, a few of the group fighting Blake breaking off to deal with this new adversary. Blake watched out of the corner of her eye as the young god effortlessly trumped the battle-hardened gods with his monumental strength.

 _Huh, I guess he's good for more than sitting around and making craters._ Blake thought to herself as she drove a dagger into the heart of her enemy. Meanwhile, Jaune held the broken remains of a god in his right hand, the two remaining opting to fall back to a safer place.

"Haha! This is the most fun I have had in awhile!" Jaune cheered happily, observing the raging battle around him.

He watched Sun Wukong strike a line of enemies with his extending staff as Lie Ren blew a wave of green fire that gave off such intense heat it singed Jaune's eyebrows. However, something did not seem right, the gods and goddesses of order were winning almost too easily, so easy that it would be an embarrassment to call it a fight. No, something was not right here at all.

Jaune swung his axe in a wide arc and split a small squad of summoned minions that attempted to rush him, all the time chewing on his lip in deep thought. If Watts and the others had connived to stage a coup, why here? While it was true that all the gods and goddesses would be here, it did not seem that they had cut down on the security nor did they set an accurate ambush.

"Pyrrha," he asked idly, the goddess landing beside him gracefully. "Does this not seem too easy?"

The Goddess of Victory nodded. "Aye, this seems much too simple for what they call a coup."

Then, as if on cue, the building gave another violent shake, throwing everyone off balance and making whatever walls that remained crumble to pieces. Staring through a hole in the wall, Jaune felt his blood go cold for the first time in centuries. There, standing in the plains just beyond the summit place, was Watts himself, holding a swirling cloud of black and red that seemed almost grainy in appearance.

"He has the aether!" Jaune boomed with enough force to rattle the foundations.

The assembled immortals whipped their heads in the direction of the man who sneered victoriously. The cloud warped and coiled around the man's hands as hey swayed them around, beginning to perform an incantation.

"Stop him!" Neptune shouted, throwing his spear at the man.

Jaune watched as it sailed towards the Atlesian before a tendril of the aether whipped outwards, snapping the divine weapon in half before it fell into dust. Pyrrha stood dumbfounded at the magical substance that Watts wielded with almost ease, but already some gods and goddesses had begun to escape. Creating portals through magical circles while others transformed and moved to safety.

"Don't let him complete the spell!" shouted Ironwood, dressed in his battle robes and wielding his mighty spear Gungnir.

Ironwood pointed the spear at the man who cocked an eyebrow in challenge, there was a flash of light and suddenly a torrent of destructive energy burst forth from the tip of the spear. It roared its way towards the man who still had not paused in his incantation before it collided with seemingly nothing, moving around the dastardly god in almost a bubble. It was too late, Watts had finished his spell and the aether exploded from his hands, growing into a cloud the size of a mountain as it raged towards the assembled divines.

Jaune watched as the substance began to blanket the meeting house, unable to tear his eyes away from it.

The aether. The substance made by primordials that was destined to annihilate the world...

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 **Woah, what a strange chapter right? Honestly this was just me spit balling ideas here, got this one in a dream like I said. As you can see I had some liberties with the gods, some of whom you may know the inspiration.**

 **Oh, and Jaune is supposed to be an expy of Paul Bunyan because I think that Paul doesn't get enough love for being the first American God.**


	40. Deal or No Deal

**Hello my lovelies! I hope you enjoy this chapter since I had a clear cut idea but it was kind of hard to translate onto the page, you know? Anyways I'm sorry for these gaps in content but I do have some fan submitted ideas that I am working on, and if you send me an idea and either I don't respond or refuse please don't take it personally. When I write an idea it's because I feel a sort of connection to it, I can imagine the scenario, the dialogue, the characters so on and so forth.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

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 **Deal or No Deal:**

 **From teleportation to super speed, the world of Remnant has a host of strange and unique powers that those with unlocked auras own. But, even among them there are powers so rare, so esoteric that there haven't been more than one or two users in all of history. Intelligent Design, Time Manipulation, and Dimensional Control being among them, but even among those there exists another, far stranger power. One Jaune Arc is the holder of this power, with the fate of the world at his fingertips the enigmatic man roams the world, looking for new sights and new marks to deal with.**

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The Vacuan prince paced back and forth in his luxurious mansion of a house, eyeing the front door every so often as if expecting the grim reaper to float through it. Nervously chewing on his fingernails he glanced at the clock; 1:18 in the afternoon, the man he had gotten into contact with said he'd be here by 1:20 on the dot and yet the gate guards reported nothing!

The anticipation was killing him and he paused his relentless pacing to take a swig of strong liquor from the nearby bar, his butler refilling the pristine glass. He tapped his foot for a few moments more before turning around, exasperated, at his butler.

"What the hell is taking him so long?" he asked, throwing his arms into the air.

Then, as if on cue, the door chime sounded and the two looked towards the wooden barrier as if it was a bomb. The prince jerked his head, motioning for his butler to open the door, and, as he did so, a young man, no more than 17 or 18, swept in past him arms splayed wide.

"Amar Rillo! What did I tell you? 1:20 on the dot!" Amar glanced at the clock to see that it was, indeed, 1:20 on the dot. "Sorry for the wait I like to be punctual."

"It's no problem Mr. Arc, please take a seat." the esteemed young man gestured to a fine seat next to the bar that the mysterious dealer took. "Now, about our deal-"

"You're not holding out on me Amar?" the young man asked, blonde hair slicked back in a close crop. "I hope the trouble I went through wasn't for naught."

"N-No sir!" Amar stammered, shaking his head vigorously. "I-I just wanted to know if you still had my order."

Mr. Arc chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, his appearance belying his importance to the young royalty. A tan hooded jacket that seemed scuffed and messy accenting the equally scuffed and dirty converse and jeans he wore. Despite his rather impoverished appearance, the young man's face held a certain glint, an excitement one might see on a Nemean before it pounces on the unwary traveler.

"Of course Prince Rillo, I would never dream of betraying your trust." The strange dealer said, leaning back in his seat as the butler poured him a glass of expensive brandy. "Your oh-so-precious not yet released manga is safely within my storage."

"Shh! Keep your voice down Jaune! If people knew the next in line to inherent the Rillo family's real estate was a fan of that Mistrali... filth they'd surely ruin me!" Amar cried, waving his hands frantically and looking around.

The now-named Jaune chuckled again and snapped his fingers, there was a flash of white light and a small, almost glowing, slip of paper had appeared upon the granite tabletop. Amar glanced at it and gulped before looking back to his benefactor before finally nodding his head to his loyal butler who retrieved a nearby suitcase. Upon opening it in front of the two gentlemen, Jaune spied around 40,000 lien in unmarked bills stuffed neatly into the expensive case.

"Very nice Amar, a suitable trade." Jaune smiled, snapping his fingers again. In another flash of light the young prince's coveted manga sat upon the countertop, reading the latest issue that wasn't even out yet and even an issue not entirely finished.

Jaune took the suitcase and, in another flash of light, it was gone leaving the two young men to sip their drinks rather tensely. Amar seemed to be looking for something to say, glancing at his butler for assistance every so often.

"A pocket dimension." Jaune cut in, Amar's head snapping to him.

"P-Pardon?"

"The money, it goes to my pocket dimension the same place I stored your manga." Jaune explained casually, inspecting the now empty glass in his hand. "My semblance allows me to put my earnings somewhere y'know, I call it The Vault."

"B-But how did you...?" Amar trailed off, gesturing to the not-yet-written manga edition on the table.

"Deal or No Deal allows me to warp reality to a certain extent where I can pull things that haven't yet been made." Jaune replied lightly with a wave of his hand. "Once I received the minimum payment I could withdraw your precious comic book at any time I wanted too."

"W-Wow, I had heard of your talents but seeing it now... I am happy I made the investment." Amar spoke amazed. "P-Perhaps if I needed money, or a car maybe-?"

"Easy as 1,2,3 my friend, just give me my payment and it can all be yours." Jaune laughed, setting his glass down. "I can see in your eyes you want to know more, so, I'll tell you what, gimme that bottle of Chateau LaFite right there and I'll tell you."

"It's yours." Amar replied immediately, less concerned with some wine rather than answers.

"Ok then, so very eager." Jaune cocked his head, a smile on his lips. "Deal or No Deal, my semblance, allows me to produce, create, and trade almost any substance, ability, object, or quality one can desire. In return for a minimum required to complete the transaction between two willing parties, I can pull, from thin air, one's most hidden and deep desires. True love? Easy. Telekinesis? Simple. Healing from that terminal illness? Child's play. With a snap of my fingers it can all be yours."

"By the gods, then can you use it as well?" Amar breathed.

"If you're asking if I can make deals with myself, then yes. I can sacrifice what I have stored in my vault for instant access to power, food, shelter, knowledge, and even limited companionship." Jaune could see the young man across from him didn't understand that last part. "I can produce a facsimile of a person with their abilities and personality, but they do not last long."

"So, could you..." he trailed off and gulped loudly. "Could you even return the dead?"

Jaune's face went sour for a moment before ripping into a snarl before smoothing over. "I..." he sighed and drank from a nearby brandy bottle. "Yes I can, but in return for the buyer's life themself."

Amar was about to say something but was cut off instantly. "Do not presume you will be happy with the return of your loved one's Amar! I have done that deal a mere 6 or 7 times but it does not end well for anyone, the dead are meant to stay dead. Believe me."

An awkward and tense silence hung over the room before Amar finally cleared his throat and looked at Jaune. "I understand, thank you for sharing this with me Mr. Arc. If you ever need real estate help in Vacuo please do not hesitate to give me a call."

Once more a small smile broke out on Jaune's face before he extended his hand for a shake that Amar gladly took. Amar watched as Jaune snapped his fingers once more and, in another brilliant flash, disappeared from the room...

0-0-0-0

Jaune stood outside the small town of Armsville in Vale, having teleported there via a small payment of 7200 lien. He could smell a good sucker not too far, it mingled with the smell of alcohol coming from the nearby tavern, like always the easy ones were at the bar. Entering, he found a surprisingly classy establishment with various geared and armed men and woman walking back and forth.

 _A hunter's bar, I see_ Jaune thought to himself smugly, yes these tired people could use a good deal. Maybe some repaired weapons, some healing, or maybe just a good night's rest to get them back on their feet. Either way, Jaune sauntered up to the bar and took a seat next to a blonde man who sat there nursing a small shot glass. The bartender gave him a look before Jaune ordered a small cider for himself, dropping twice the usual price for the older man.

Civilians weren't really welcome in hunter's bars, being the only true refuge for the tired warriors of humanity. And he could tell he was beginning to draw looks from the assembled men and women, unfortunately for them the blonde man next to him beat him to it.

"What's a civvie kid like you doing here?" he asked just a tad drunkenly. "Are you even old enough to drink?"

"Oh I think I'll be fine Taiyang Xiao-Long." Jaune answered, giving up two gold bars for the man's full profile.

Tai snapped his head to him suspiciously, hand switching to the tonfa at his waist. "Look kid, I don't know what you _think_ you're here for but I-"

Jaune raised a hand. "Now now, Mr. Xiao-Long. I mean you no harm, but I can see you're a man in dire need of something. Your daughter just called you not too long ago and she needs help taking care of your _other_ daughter, but the next bullhead doesn't leave until Wednesday, two days from now."

Taiyang leapt up from his and grab a fist full of Jaune's shirt. "How do you know about my kids!"

"Easy sir, like I said I mean you no harm. I'm just going to offer you a way to get to your kids _right now_." Jaune grinned disarmingly, the older man didn't buy it but did set him down.

"Talk. Now." He ordered, hands still next to his weapons.

"Mr. Xiao-Long I am a dealer in essentials, you need a way to get back like that-" Jaune snapped his fingers for emphasis. "And I aim to offer that to you. In return for say... Oh I don't know, perhaps that amber ring you got from your grandmother?"

"What? No! Absolutely not you con man!" Tai growled at him. "You really think I'm that dumb-?"

By the time he had finished his sentence the both of them had been whisked away from the bar and now stood in a grassy meadow about 14 miles outside of Mistral's capital. Taiyang looked around dumbly before whipping his tonfa with lightning speed into the side of the boy's head, but no before said boy sacrificed a gold ring to completely nullify the impact.

"I-What...?" Taiyang mumbled, taking a step back.

"Do you see now? I can bring you to your children Mr. Xiao-Long there's no need for violence." Jaune said lightly, splaying his arms wide. "I only need that amber ring, and you can be back to your precious daughters at this very moment."

"How... How do I know I can trust you?" Taiyang asked the strange young man.

"Truthfully, you have no way of knowing- but! I can offer you a deal on a smaller scale if it'll convince you. Say... Ooh! That lazuli keychain you got for you 30th birthday in exchange for a new wallet?" Jaune clapped his hands together.

Taiyang tentatively reached into his pocket and withdrew the keychain, handing it over slowly to the young man who took it. Jaune inspected it for a moment before smirking and snapping his fingers, like always a flash and in his hands now rested a fine leather wallet.

Jaune handed it over and smirked again at the older huntsman's expression. "See? In exchange for that ring you'll be back home in Patch!"

"H-How do you know so much about me? About my family?" Taiyang asked, gripping his weapons tighter.

Jaune laughed. "Mr. Xiao-Long I have my ways, but enough dawdling what do you say?"

Tai swallowed dryly before glancing over the man once again. "Just the ring?"

Jaune's smile almost split his face. "Aye, just the ring."

"Ok, but you best hold up your end of the deal." Tai murmured, digging into his chest pocket and handing over the beautifully crafted ring.

"My good sir, I am no con man." Jaune twirled the ring before, apparently, finding it satisfactory "Alright, to your kids it is."

Jaune snapped his fingers and the man before him disappeared. Suitably amused for the day, Jaune decided to retire for the night and teleported himself into the parking lot of a decently fine chain motel in the middle of southern Mistral. Getting his room and laying down for a bit, Jaune pondered over what he would do tomorrow, the options were truly limitless.

347 years of wealth provided enough bargaining fuel to make any grown man green with envy. However, Jaune couldn't escape the nagging feeling that this was starting to get boring, and, for a moment, considered going back to the huntsman academies for laughs. The thought died an ugly death when he remembered his old team, Team HABN (Habanero), and what had happened to them.

 _Tch,_ _huntsman academies, more trouble than they are worth._ he thought sullenly as he turned over in his bed. Maybe he'd go pester Ozpin again to see if he would finally sell him the land rights to Beacon, with that kind of power he'd be to control the very ground that future heroes would walk upon.

He saved those thoughts for tomorrow, instead opting to go to sleep. Like always, his nights were filled with an empty nothingness, no dreams to count on...

0-0-0-0

Ozpin knew his day was getting off to a rocky start when a flash of light appeared in his office. He had been grading papers (sorting them into piles for Glynda to grade) when he felt the familiar disturbance of aura building up in his office. And what a disturbance it was when Jaune Arc waltzed out of the light like some sort of prophet from God himself.

"Jaune, what are you doing here?" Ozpin asked, not bothering to look up at him. "Oh yes, and I am _not_ selling you Beacon's land rights anytime soon."

"Oh come on Ozzy!" Jaune pleaded, sauntering over. "You can't think that I just came here to solicit you, do you?"

Ozpin sighed, considering the last 129 times he was here he was soliciting the headmaster, then yes, he did believe so. Ozpin removed his glasses and stared up at the immortal man before him, seriously, some of these new kids get all the luck. While he was essential an immortal parasite that _still_ got older in every vessel, this damn kid could just buy himself more youth on the spot. Smug asshole even offered to remove the curse upon him once or twice... in exchange for Beacon's land rights.

"Jaune, why do you even want it?" Ozpin asked, rubbing his temple.

"Because I can go around the school saying I own it." Jaune smiled unabashedly.

 _Goddammit, it's always that same stupid smirk with him isn't it?_ Ozpin grimaced in his head. By now Jaune had gotten over being immortal and had resigned himself to petty pranks and deals to entertain himself.

"Oh Jaune, whatever happened to that bright young hunter all those years ago?" Ozpin reminisced, leaning back in his chair. "Why you and your team remind me so much of that team STRQ. What with your wanton desire for destruction."

"They all died and I was the only one left." Jaune shrugged as if it were a passing comment, even so Ozpin could see a flicker of strain in his eyes. "Anyways you must have _something_ for me to do, a deal, a negotiation, hell even a mission? I'm boooooooored!"

Ozpin was absently reminded of a whiny child as the fully grown man before him pleaded with him for some kind of entertainment. Ozpin sighed once again (it was becoming a habit) before looking at the stack of ungraded papers, taxes, paperwork, and missives still needed to be written. The temptation was fierce, but as headmaster he needed a much stronger willpower to avoid taking the easy way out-

Just then a towering stack of paper collapsed under its own weight and hit the floor with a loud _Thump!_ scattering white pages everywhere.

"I'll give you 50,000 lien if you take care of all this paperwork." Ozpin said immediately, now somewhat grateful for his old friend's arrival.

Jaune pouted like a child who didn't get what he wanted. "That's no fun Ozpin, I have, like, millions in lien I don't need more. Gimme something else."

"Take it or leave it." Ozpin said lightly.

The pout grew wider. "You're not the one who holds the cards here Ozpin, maybe I should just go-"

"Wait!" the mere thought of having to do this alongside Glynda brought him back to the bargaining table. "You can harass my students for the rest of the day too."

"The week!" Jaune demanded, back still turned.

"I-I can't just-"

"It's been a fun chat Ozpin I'll get out of your hair-"

"Deal!" Ozpin said almost immediately, idly remembering one of his older vessels telling him never to try gambling.

Jaune spun around with a huge smile on his face, snapped his fingers, and just like the all the paperwork had been organized and filled out to the T. Ozpin looked over his once messy and disorganized desk before looking back up to thank Jaune, only to find him not there. From below, he heard a loud crash and a booming voice ask if anyone wanted to make a deal.

Perhaps he should have asked Jaune to ward off his headaches...


	41. Paging Doctor Arc

**Paging Doctor Arc:**

 **In the world of Remnant injury is common, serious injury even more so for the brave defenders of humanity. Once upon a time that might have been Jaune Arc, before he discovered his semblance. Jaune's inherent ability to manipulate living organisms to heal them from anything barring permanent brain death proved highly coveted. The council snatched him up and Jaune has since spent the last 6 years of his life running back and forth to meet the council's demands. His reputation is legendary in both the hunter and the medical community, for it is said that when the doctor comes to visit, everyone survives.**

0-0-0-0

 _"Paging Dr. Arc, Paging Dr. Arc..."_ the woman over the PA chimed across Vale's most opulent hospital. Mercy Hope Hospital was the most premiere place in the entire continent of Sanus. Only the wealthiest, most connected can hope to get near-instantaneous treatment from this facility.

Jaune Arc, former high school student and now nihilistic doctor, hated it.

"Doctor, Councilwoman True is here. The head doctor claims she has a malignant tumor in her lung." his secretary, Cinnamon Barbatos, better known as "Cinna", mentioned to him as he tiredly got up from his chair. His "office" was a converted storage room with the most pricey, fine furniture and equipment the facility could buy for him, but he'd much rather be curled up in his bed than spend one more minute at that mahogany desk.

"Pfft, if only she'd stop smoking." Jaune grumbled as he passed by her, white lab coat hanging over a Pink Floyd T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of red converse. To anyone else he looked to be some teen dressing up -poorly at that- as a doctor. But to those who worked here they knew that casual style meant they needed to put on their best faces, Dr. Arc was coming and he was not apt for charity ironically.

Jaune continued walking as his secretary read him the various reports and meetings he had to be assigned to today. It never ended, every moment he was working with only a combined 2 hour break every _day_ to eat, rest, drink, and relax. His semblance, Life Giver, allowed him to maintain his physical energy levels at optimal standards at all times without the need for much rest. His _mental_ stamina, however, had degraded to the point that people learned to not trouble the good doctor with pointless tasks or questions least they be booted out of their job.

Dr. Jaune Arc was the premiere healer in the world, and perhaps history, and had enough pull to bring down council members in nearly every country. Despite that, he had been on the damned Vale Council's chain for nearly 7 years now, running errands back and forth for them.

"There's a meeting for you at 3:30 today, Councilman Weathers has requested you vouch for his medical leave last year." Cinna spoke as her heels clicked alongside him.

"Weathers can stuff it, fat bastard." Jaune grumbled to her again, Cinna adjusted her glasses and nodded.

"Quite right sir, but we still must be there."

"Yeah, yeah." Jaune groaned as he entered the room containing the distinguished councilwoman. "True, so you have lung cancer."

"Y-Yes Mr. Arc, the doctors here told me it would be inoperable if it weren't for you-"

"Yes, yes let's get on with it." Jaune yawned, tapping his fingers against the woman's head. There was a soft white glow and the rattling, dried out voice of the council woman disappeared.

She took a deep breath and sighed happily. "Thank you Doctor, you truly are Vale's finest!"

"Goodbye." was all Jaune responded with as he left, following his own path to the hospital director's office.

"Sir, you have a board meeting at 11 PM tonight." Cinna reminded him with a small wince, Jaune stopped and turned around.

"11 PM is my established break time, either tell them to reschedule or tell them that I won't be in attendance." Jaune answered her before he continued his stride.

"Very good sir, I shall do so immediately." she nodded, sending a message on her Scroll tablet.

Jaune barged into the Director's room, a balding fat man who probably earned more than the bottom 10% of Vale City combined. Director Calder got up in a fluster and prepared to yell at the intruder before seeing who it was. The man choked on his words before adjusting his tie and giving a smile.

"Jauney-boy!" he greeted warmly.

"Shut up and sit down you big bald fuck." Jaune commanded back, causing the man to sit down immediately. "Now I was reading our expense reports and it says right here that 2.1 million was going to "Councilmember Kickbacks"? Nuh uh, cut that shit right now."

"W-Well Dr. Arc there are certain legality issues with that-" Calder started before he was cut off again.

"If you want to see some "legality issues" put me in a fucking room with whoever came up with this for 10 minutes." Jaune responded, irritated at this doddering idiot's blabbering.

"P-Please, Jaune, the council pays for almost all of this facilities technology and supplies, we _need_ them to keep the hospital running." Calder pleaded with the disgruntled man, the boy's unshaven stubble giving him a "violent drunk" look to him.

"Correction _Jimmy,_ you need them to keep this hospital running. I can leave whenever I want." Jaune said, leaning back in his chair.

"Jaune, you know the council won't just let you-"

"Oh they will, I'll have to twist their arm a bit but once I stop healing people they'll fix their wagon right quick. I suggest you organize a meeting with the council and tell them I won't have 2.1 _million_ lien going to lining their pockets when we need to be giving it to patients who can't even afford to _look_ at this goddamn building!" Jaune demanded, slamming a fist down onto the table.

And with that, Jaune got up and went to his next appointment with a visiting ambassador from Vacuo. As the pair walked along the halls Jaune stared at his assistant out of the corner of his eye before sighing deeply.

"Problem sir?" Cinna asked him.

"You know if you're sick you can ask me to heal you Cinnamon."

She twitched at the name but otherwise kept a cool demeanor. "Well sir, I didn't wish to bother you."

"Working with a hangover is no fun I imagine." Jaune grumbled, pausing to tap his secretary on her head.

"Thank you sir, I feel much better." she answered, straightening out the strands of loose hair that had given her away.

Jaune gave his secretary the once over, idly debating whether to scold her for drinking with a cold but decided against it. Cinna stood much short than Jaune at a mere 5'2, but her demeanor gave her all the power she needed. It was the way she held herself and how she dressed that projected the vibe "do not fuck with me" that got Jaune interested all the years ago. Dressed in an average suit jacket and skirt, Cinna's most surprising look was her fiery red in a pixie cut that made her stand out in a crowd.

"Sir, we have to be going." Cinna mentioned, causing her superior to nod and keep moving.

After finishing up with the most pompous Vacuan Jaune had ever had the displeasure of meeting, he returned back to his office to review medical charts, expense reports, and personal documents that all made him want to rip his hair out. Idly, he wondered how his hunter patients were doing in the field, he much preferred their gruff, yet understanding, demeanor more than the wealthy leeches that he was usually surrounded by.

Jaune had been sitting for no more than 10 minutes before Cinna came by and warned him that an emergency meeting had been called in the meeting room. Sighing deeply, Jaune nodded his head and followed his trusted underling to the room that had already grown packed with different doctors, politicians, and even that Deputy Headmistress of Beacon, Gertha or something.

"Well since none of us want to be here I'll keep this brief." the head doctor started. "According to huntsman reports a massive burrow of Grim Diggers erupted from the tunnels beneath Mountain Glenn and got their way into the eastern sector of Vale."

A tense silence ensued for a moment before Gertha something or other began talking again. "We kept casualties to a minimum but a brood that size caused mass havoc and injured 3 huntsman, we need you're help organizing a rescue and healing effort."

"Good we'll send our most prominent aides to the area immediately, Glynda what would you say is-" the head doctor was cut off by the gruff looking young man.

"Glynda, how many are injured and do you have them in an enclosed space?" Jaune asked impatiently, tapping his foot like an agitated parent.

Glynda took a minute to process that, the deputy headmistress slowly nodding. "Yes, we set up a field hospital for those who couldn't be moved, right now they number around 44 and-"

"Perfect, charter me a bullhead there immediately we'll be done before supper." Jaune said, leaving the room in a moment, leaving a nearly stunned crowd behind.

"Doctor Macintosh, was that-?" Glynda began, only to be interrupted again.

"Aye, that was Doctor Arc- and yes, he will be done before supper time." Doctor Macintosh answered, rubbing his temples sorely.

The news that day was flooded with reports of the legendary Doctor Arc selflessly walking into a medical tent and curing all the afflicted with a single wave of his hand...


	42. Of Mutants and Monsters

**Of Mutants and Monsters:**

 **In the world of Remnant there exist a special kind of human, people who are born with inexplicable powers over the world around them. However, despite their inherent abilities, they are so few in number that the world as has almost unanimously cast them out to the edges of the 4 corners of the planet. There were some, for a time, who wished to harness this power for their own ends, for mutants these people commonly were known as villains and only further increased tensions between the two races. But for one man, the world is simply as shitty as it has always been. Being a mutant doesn't make a difference, life still finds a way to screw you over...**

0-0-0-0

Empty beer cans littered the floor around the coffee table, the drab apartment cloaked in darkness as the sole occupant lazily flicked through the channels on his day off. Oh how he wished he could enjoy it, but all that happened to be on the TV was the ongoing, and heated, debate about the new mutant bill that was supposed to be passed by the Vale congress. Jaune DeMarco -nee Arc- grimaced as he switched to a news station conducting an interview with the world's foremost "mutantologist" Dr. Richard Pierce.

 _"So, Doctor,"_ the lavender haired newswoman asked. _"Can you take us back to the roots of your mutant study? What are some of the facts the common person should know about this bill?"_

The _good doctor_ fixed his tie and leaned his head forward. _"Well my dear, it is important to note that despite a population of 2 billion on Remnant, only about .02%, or rather, 400,000 have the unique genetic code for the mutant "X-gene" as it has been called. Among these 400,000, there only exists around 178,000 who have tapped into their potential powers."_

 _"And why is that doctor?"_ Lisa Lavender asked politely.

 _"Well,"_ the Dr. Pierce began, rubbing his shiny head. _"From what we have gathered, there needs to be a sufficient adrenal shock or something close to it to awaken these dormant powers. So while 400,000 people possess the necessary genes for mutant abilities, most go through life without experiencing a sufficient shock that could awaken their powers."_

 _"Isn't that what Doctor Markel attempted to recreate 7 years ago?"_ the anchorwoman questioned.

Dr. Pierce suddenly got very quiet, nervously fiddling with himself before clearing his throat. _"Yes, that... detestable woman did attempt to take a batch of unawakened mutants and try to artificially awaken their powers through the use of her "experiments". Luckily, she was caught and her program was shut down before she could do any lasting damage to the population."_

 _"And what would you say was the motive behind-"_

The doctor cut her off, face bright red. _"Please Ms. Lavender, we're here to talk about the bill not Markel so let's try and stay on topic."_

The interview devolved into the usual slew of legal jargon and political garbage that Jaune had already been subjected to numerous times before. He flicked the channel with a grimace that grew wider as the next channel displayed, what Jaune thought, was _the_ most punchable face in human history. On the screen, a skinny, dark skinned man sat dressed in an expensive suit as he spoke with the several hosts of Channel 7's "Real Talk" segment of news.

 _"Ok folks now here to talk to us about the new "Mutant Bill" is Reverend Thomas Jacobson. Reverend Jacobson-?"_ the stunning host introduced before passing the conversation to the man in question.

 _"Good to be here Hank, and yes I have come on here today to talk to you about the importance of this bill. As many of you know I am the head chairman of the Association of Citizens Concerns on Mutants, or the ACCM for short, and let me tell you about this bill."_ the distinguished "Reverend" began, staring intensely into the camera. _"The fact of the matter is that these mutants are an inexhaustible threat to our society, in the past 40 years mutant-related terror attacks have been proven to be the deadliest terrorist attacks in human history. There is virtually no accountability or safeguards against the mutant threat, and furthermore the government has no way of cataloging or identifying Vale's mutant population."_

If there was one person on Remnant that Jaune would not mind taking a swing at, it was this massive dickhead. Reverend Jacobson was, at some point, a reverend in a middle-of-nowhere town that had some very strong opinions on the growing mutant population. He called their powers "demonic" and nearly incited a riot at the Anti-Mutant rally in San Plaza last year. But it was only when he earned some major clout as the new chairman of the ACCM that he became a really big thorn in the mutant community's side, his lobbying is what go the bill into congress to begin with and by this point his organization was the forefront of the anti-mutant movement.

What made it even better was that there was almost no opposition, any pro-mutant groups were either bullied in disbandment or else thrown aside in every major news outlet around the world. There wasn't so much as a single "pro-mutant" senator in the entirety of congress, only ones who were lukewarm on the issue and considered it to be not their problem.

Just then, the shriek of his landline alerted the slightly intoxicated Jaune that someone was bothering to call him. Stumbling over he picked it up and answered with a sigh, rubbing his temple wearily.

"Hello?" he mumbled.

"Jaune? It's me, Harley dude!" the voice on the other end sounded frantic. "Are you watching this right now? They might as well be calling for our blood! If this law gets passed and it gets out that we're mutants, we'll need to flee the country or something!"

"Relax Harley, we're going to be fine." Jaune didn't sound to sure or even very interested in that statement if his tone was anything to go by.

"You don't sound too sure about this dude." Harley claimed from the other end of the line causing Jaune to sigh again.

"I-I know Harley, look I'm a little buzzed, I'm tired of this stupid shit, and I don't see a way out. What do you want me to say?" Jaune asked, voice dejected and devoid of much in the way of hope.

"I- What do we do? _Should_ we leave? I heard that guy -Adam, you know the one, has been recruiting mutants and trying to build a safe haven or something. Maybe we could try and get in contact with him?" Harley asked, voice crackling with static, a sure sign his powers were going haywire.

"Go ahead Harley, honestly I'm too tired to try and leave. If they want my head let 'em come, you'll see me on the news soon enough I suppose." Jaune answered bleakly, rubbing his face with his hand.

"I-I can't just leave you here bro, not after all the shit we went through in that hellhole. I refuse." Harley argued back, his electricity no doubt wavering under his emotions. "Look, why can't we just pack our shit and get out of here? Not like anyone will come after us, you know? Who cares about two mutants anyway?"

"Look... Harley... I'll call you back." Jaune ended the conversation, to exhausted to try and talk things out anymore.

Yes, exhausted was a good word for it. After all the beatings and torture, after being forced to unlock his power and then be vilified for something out of his control, after being sold off by his family to make ends meet he was exhausted of it all. If the hungry mob wanted to come and string him up after that damned bill was signed, let them come he'd be waiting with an arsenal unlike they had ever seen.

Flicking the TV on he turned to yet another news station idly wondering how ironic that there were so many news station that didn't display _actual_ news. This one was different however, instead of footage of the anti-mutant protests or some president of some anti-mutant organization there was a fast strikingly familiar to him. His sharply angled face and bright red hair would give him away anywhere: Adam Belladonna, nee Taurus, leader of the New Expansion. A group of pro-mutant supporters and mutants themselves vying for inalienable rights.

 _"Earlier today Adam Belladonna, leader of the New Expansion group, made a statement about the upcoming mutant bill to be passed today in congress."_ an offscreen voice said, the footage of the mutant ringleader gaining sound.

"Brothers, sisters!" he began, throwing his arms wide. "Today Vale, and the world by extension, is at a crossroads of the future for both humans and mutants. The decisions made today will inevitably change the course of this organization henceforth. And while I wish I was secure in the knowledge that our peaceful group will stay that as we join hands with the rest of humankind in creating a golden age, I have doubt in my heart. Let it be known that the New Expansion will defend its rights and the rights of its people so long as even one of us stands, make no mistake, we are willing to go to extreme measures to let our voices be heard."

The audio faded out as the narration came back, the camera changing to an interview between two people; an anchorman and a "leading mutantologist".

 _"Mr. Brock, what would you say this statement conveys?"_ the handsome anchor asked.

 _"Well Steve I think it's obvious to you and to everyone. Ugh, Adam Belladonna is completely willing to get violent for all his talk of peace and "golden ages". If this bill gets signed I think there will be some serious concern for the average about how the mutant community will react. I would say to expect some serious backlash and I know that's got a lot of the government on edge."_

As much as Jaune hated to admit it, the man had an excellent point. Despite the commotion brought about by today there was an overlying ominous silence to it, everyone waiting for congress to just say it. Just say that the bill had been signed- and then, then all hell would break loose. Jaune himself wasn't super worried over what the government might try and do to him. Even if he didn't buy into preemptively striking humanity for his own safety, he had no fear that any normal human and their normal human weapons could overpower him.

With another mind-rending sigh, Jaune thought back to Adam and how things were before they all got free from that camp. Whispered warnings that his therapist gave him were shooed away as Jaune remembered the long nights, and days, of that horrid place...

0-0-0-0

 **San Martino Air Force Base, 5 years ago...**

Even in the night the screams still laced the air, pained moans and suffering cries ebbing up from within the bowels of the otherwise pristine cell block the young kids sat in. They ranged from as young as 11 to almost 18, a single pale-haired boy of 15 huddled in the corner of his cell, the bulletproof glass window giving him a clear view to the red haired kid across from him.

They were all told that they were going to advance humanity, that they would be the next stepping stone in protecting Vale from foreign threats. What an absolute load of bullshit, they were there to be tortured plain and simple. Every time he sat through that speech and saw the reassured faces of those young kids a piece of him died away, knowing it would only be perhaps an hour before their first "operation".

Perhaps he was tired from the day, I mean, how could he not be? 7 straight hours of torture doesn't work wonders for the body, even if Dr. Markel and her abomination of a mutation kept him in good physical shape.

"I can't believe this bullshit..." the red haired kid muttered from across him, the air stiflingly quiet. "All because of some stupid fucking genes..."

"Shut up," Jaune said, despite the hypocrisy of his own words. "You know they always go after the talkers first."

"Whatever, not like they can do much more to me now..." the kid said, pulling his knees close. "Not that it matters but... Adam."

It was a long time before Jaune had the guts to respond. "Your name?"

"Aye."

The two sat in silence, not wanting to push their luck any further. It would 7 more months before they were free, before the event known as "Trigger Day" happened and their mutations simultaneously activated...

0-0-0-0

 _She's still out there..._ A traitorous part of his mind reminded him, not that it was wrong though. Dr. Angela Markel, the San Martino Butcher sometimes called The Angel of Death. Officially she was somewhere in a undisclosed cell rotting away, forgotten by the rest of the world, and while Jaune liked that idea, he knew better than to trust the government. Someone of that caliber and that much of an expert of mutants being tossed aside? Not fucking likely.

Even so, his mind getting back on track, maybe Harley had a point. Maybe it was time to skip town and go to the place he was _actually_ wanted, he had kept his mutagenic secret hidden away for years, never letting anyone he knew get close enough to find out. But even so, he had grown tired of pretending to be something he wasn't, tired of pretending any amount of force was actually enough to hurt him.

Last year he had gotten so close to being found out when that car back into him, he had to damn near run out of the hospital before the doctors found nary a scratch on his body. If they found out about his mutant abilities, he'd never be able to return there without fear of being killed in a drug-induced sleep right on the operating table. Shaking his head of those thoughts, Jaune quickly dialed a number and let it ring once... twice... thrice-

"Hello?" a prim voice asked. "You've reached The New Expansion hotline, if you're calling about the Mutant Bill or you would like to make a donation-"

"I need to speak with Adam Beladonna, please." Jaune asked, the voice going silent for a moment before humming.

"I'm afraid Mr. Belladonna is not taking calls at this time-"

"Tell him it's from Jaune, and I wanted to talk about joining up." the voice was silent for a moment before giving in and patching him through...

"-Jaune? My secretary told me it was you but I never thought..." Adam trailed off, an old habit of his.

"Yeah T, it's me. I was wondering if you're still accepting people for that little mutant colony of yours?" Jaune asked, involuntarily crossing his fingers.

"For you? Sure, if you can get a ticket to Patch consider yourself as good as gone buddy." Adam replied lightly, no doubt fiddling with a playing card like old times. "I actually just got an app from Harley, can you believe that?"

"Yeah, he called me earlier about getting out while the going's getting good. I assume you let him in?" Jaune asked, packing up some essentials for his trip.

Adam gave an offended scoff. "Of course my old friend, you didn't think I'd leave anyone from the camp out to dry would you? In fact, everyone who's still alive is here, save for you of course, and Harley but..."

"Yeah don't worry, I'm packing up now. You said Patch right? I'll get in at San Jose Airport I'll need someone to pick me up." Jaune commented lightly, filling his suitcase with his toothbrush and money he kept around. "Ooooor, you could have Blake just 'port me there."

Adam laughed lightly. "Oh gods Jaune, you know what she'd do to me if I made her send a portal all the way to Northern Vale? She'd gut me."

"Assuming she hasn't already, being married with you, I imagine you'll be just fine." Jaune chuckled, cracking into a smile in what felt like weeks. "Look I get it, I got things to do and bosses to tell I quit, I'll keep you on speed dial in case things get bad. Ok?"

"Ok, can't wait to see you here. We'll get some drinks." Adam promised before saying his goodbyes and hanging up.

Getting out of the country was a little harder, the only flight leaving today was at 9 PM and was over 900 lien! Despite the pain of clicking "I accept" Jaune was at least comforted by the fact he'd get to tell his smug prick, mutant-hating boss he could go fuck himself in his fat fucking ass. Not wanting to delay that golden hour he quickly rang his boss and was greeted by his grumpy and gruff voice.

"Jaune? The hell are you calling me for? You're not due 'til tomorrow ya idjit." his boss politely reminded him.

"Yeah, about that, well you see I'm actually quitting that shithole you call a gas station and I can honestly say with the utmost pride and sincerity: Go fuck yourself you fat fucking pig." and with that, he hung up feeling a little bit more free for once.

 **Later that day...**

Jaune couldn't say he was really surprised, the mutant bill was, of course, going to pass but seeing it pass was still something to behold. Even in his shitty apartment he could hear the raucous crowd of regular humans chanting and shouting their victory. Normally Jaune would have been pissed, but instead he had a flight to catch. Running outside with his bags he quickly began to flag down a taxi before he felt someone strong grip his shoulder.

"Lots of bags there kid, you going somewhere?" an obviously inebriated man asked him, the stench of alcohol soaked into his stubble.

"I got business I need to be getting to sir, have a good day." Jaune politely answered, shaking off his hand and turning to leave. It wasn't two steps before the man grabbed a handful of his shirt this time.

"Business? Or maybe you're some mutant freak trying to get out?" the drunken man asked with predatory snarl.

Jaune felt a pang of fear and knew in that instance it passed onto his face. For the man's expression turned into feral victory as he howled out that there was a mutant over here, and even in the roaring of the crowd the people around him heard it clear as day.

 _Fuck me this isn't good, what do I do?_ Jaune asked himself frantically, there was no way he'd make it to his flight now. He needed to get back to his apartment and have Blake port him to Glenn Haven.

"Fucking mute!"

"Kill him!"

"String him up!"

"Abomination!"

Were just a few of the phrases being tossed around him as the crowd converged. Metal objects, rocks, and even their own fists being prepared to be made into weapons. Despite this obvious disadvantage, Jaune didn't feel scared of the people around him -no, he'd fight off this entire crowd with ease especially with them using blunt tools like that. But instead it was a fear of finally being found out, of no doubt having his face plastered around the city as people would inevitably go hunting for him. Everyone would know his secret, everyone would know why "Weird Jaune" was so weird.

"Sir, I'm asking you nicely to let go. If you don't I'll need to defend myself."

"You hear that boys?!" the drunken man roared to the crowd encircling them. "He says he's gonna "defend" himself if we don't back off. Let's show him how tough he really is!"

The crowd surged forth and Jaune pressed his hand against the man's chest before flinging him across the street with practiced ease. A portion of the mob hesitated at the show of strength, while other (more intoxicated) ran forward to attack. A middle-aged man wielding a baseball bat brought it down onto Jaune's head, expecting the young mutant to simply crumple to the ground.

Instead the bat connected and Jaune's head jerked down, and yet the man did not so much as wobble. Instead, the blonde man looked up with almost disappointment in his eyes before pressing his fingertips onto the man's chest. There was almost a ripple of force down his arm before it connected with the attacking man and sent him flying will all the force of car across the street and into a nearby shop.

This time, the crowd hesitated in its entirety. Many no longer quite so brave at the prospect of facing down a mutant, but to their credit they may have had a chance had it not been Jaune they were fighting. You see, Jaune's mutant ability placed him in a much higher caliber in the mutant food chain, he was what was commonly referred to as an "Alpha" mutant. A mutant with abilities far exceeding most normal mutants, and a potentially country-destabilizing threat to Vale.

Jaune had the ability to absorb and release and type of energy projected at him, from electrical to kinetic, he could absorb it with his nigh-infinite reserves. He could use it to keep himself young, rested, strong, fast, and durable all at once. The energy never dissipated so any force applied to him would be saved until he used it later on in the future.

"Fuck me, the monster's tougher than he looks." he heard one man comment frantically to his companion.

At his words the crowd took a step back almost in tandem. Deciding to end this without too much bloodshed, Jaune raised his foot ominously above the concrete, pausing to let the fear soak in to the crowd around him before bringing it down. The effect was immediate, the road around him buckling under the force of the stomp as a shockwave of epic proportions threw the gathered crowd.

The rest of the mob, now noticing the fight seemed to form something akin to battle lines as they tried to surround him. He could see police and riot squads advancing from behind the crowd to capture him. Deciding it was time to switch to plan B, Jaune leaped into the air and landed on the balcony of his apartment, awing the spectators below and most likely feeding a media frenzy.

He dialed the number as quick as possible and it picked up on the second ring.

"Jaune-?" Adam began only to be cut off.

"Adam! Look there's a mob outside that knows I'm a mutant, I need you to get me out of here now!" Jaune shouted to him, lifting him coach and placing it against the front door of his apartment.

"Jesus- Jaune, where are you right now?" Adam asked, the sound of shuffling papers and muffled shouting coming from the other end.

"In my apartment, just have her open a portal in the living room." Jaune answered, hearing his friend shout for his wife to open a portal.

It was nary 30 seconds later before A) the door began to buckle and shake as a vicious assault poured in from the other side and B) a swirling black and purple mass appeared in his living room. Deciding to go with option B Jaune jumped through it to find he was now in a comfortable looking office surrounded by guards and two familiar faces.

The portal closed behind him as Blake Belladonna nearly collapsed under the weight of the fatigue placed on her. Her husband intercepted before that could happen and soon the three sat in the lobby of the New Expansion Headquarters, Blake lying on a sofa as her husband stroked her hair.

"Thanks Adam, I didn't mean to tire Blake out like that." Jaune began only to be stopped.

"Don't worry about it, she was adamant about getting you out of there." Adam murmured before devolving into a silence.

"Jesus, when did this all get so fucked up?" Jaune asked, mostly to himself. "How can these people _really_ be trying to exterminate us?"

"Fear Jaune, fear is what it is. They fear us because we're better than them, because we could rule the planet and have them beneath us they fear that idea so much that they'd rather kill us all instead." Adam answered, still stroking his wife's hair. "People fear what they don't understand."

"...Aye, well, I think we've all earned a long rest." Jaune commented, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes, I'll have someone escort you to your room." Adam told him getting up and facing his old friend again. "Welcome to Glenn Haven, the first Safe Haven for mutants..."


	43. Love at First Sight

**Ok so, I know this chapter is beyond short and has little to no actual depth to it. To be honest, this chapter is just a little idea I had floating around in my head that someone gave me the motivation to act on. There will be another chapter very soon that'll be much longer, and, if you're a God of War fan, it'll be right up your alley. 10 points to whoever guesses correctly on who Jaune will be.**

0-0-0-0

 **Love at First Sight:**

 **Jaune Arc was, for lack of a better word, a complete loser. No real ambitions or talent beyond some vague marketing skills, no hobbies or social presence, nor did he have an interesting job. For Jaune Arc, life was routine and rather dull, until he was given that strange flyer from that occult club at school. Deciding that he would only live once, Jaune chose to do the silly little ritual in return for the chance to meet a "woman beyond beauty". He never expected it to work of course, so that's why he was a little surprised to see a stunning woman in the middle of his apartment...**

0-0-0-0

The clock in my modest apartment ticked rhythmically, highlighting the awkward silence between me and my new tenant. She was, if nothing else, stunning beyond any measure of the word, a beautiful red dress that showed off her expansive legs, delicate features that seemed almost ethereal in the dim moonlight, and flowing red hair that seemed to be the purest shade of red I had ever seen.

She was indeed a "woman beyond beauty" like the summoning flyer for the succubus said.

However, this was all offset by the rather strained look on her face and the painfully awkward "sexy pose" that she had done upon being summoned. Her first words being "l-like what you see big guy?" were what brought about this uncomfortable pause between us. There seemed to be a crescendo in the tension before she broke and let out a huge gasp as she hung her head down low.

"S-Sorry sir! This is my first time being summoned and you know how practice and the real world differ so I guess I just thought that-" she cut off her rambling with another, rather choked, gasp and took a deep breath. "S-So, I-I guess I'm supposed to accompany you for the night...?"

She trailed off, looking to me for the answer.

"I don't know, isn't this, like, your area of expertise?" I asked maybe a tad too forwardly for she seemed to flinch and stammer.

"Y-Yes of course! M-My name is Pyrrha and I will be your succubus for the evening." she said like a waiter introducing herself. "I am supposed to handle any such needs and desires you may have with me."

I could tell by the nervous glint in her eyes that she was woefully unprepared for this whole succubus thing, I doubt she could seduce a horny madman let alone some walking sculpture like me. Instead I merely sighed, too jaded to truly care about the whole situation and instead held up my hand.

"I don't think that'll be necessary ma'am." I answered her, causing the succubus to flinch again in dismay.

"I-I'm sorry!" she apologized profusely. "This is my first summoning and nothing at the academy could ever train me for this and I don't know if it was what I was dressed in but maybe-"

"It's alright ma'am, I get it." I cut her rambling off, causing her to let out another sigh.

"Like I said, I'm sorry. Perhaps I could make it up to you somehow? Like I know we have these coupons that allow you one summoning with no charge to your soul, maybe you'd like one of those?" she asked weakly, eyes nearly shut in preparation of the answer.

I gave a bleak sigh, of course the only succubus without any real training gets summoned by me. Of course. "It's ok ma'am, would you like to just watch a movie with me? I got some popcorn and soda if you demon guys do that sorta thing."

She perked up at that, like a small puppy. "O-Of course! And you can call me Pyrrha by the way- I'd be happy to watch a movie with you."

And that's how I ended up sitting on my decent-looking couch watching some asian movie called "Train to Busan" on Dustflix. Beside me sat the succubus, having apparently generated a red hoodie and leggings to replace her red dress, eating popcorn and flinching everytime a zombie came on screen.

"Are you afraid of zombies? Aren't they, like, normal in Hell?" I asked plainly, a little confused why a demon would be afraid of rabid dead people.

"N-No not at all! Geez you humans make the creepiest monsters I swear!" she whispered harshly into her hoodie, tensing as the main character approached a train car full of the undead. It was only when one of them made a move for the main character that Pyrrha gave a small "eep!" and clung to my arm with the force of an anaconda.

"Protect me Jaune!" she howled before freezing as she realized what she had just done. Once she did, she retracted with a flustered blush as she babbled on about apologies and respecting personal space.

I was much more preoccupied with pulling my shirt over my pants to hide the stifling tent in them. I had never, in my entire life, been so close to a woman that wasn't family, let alone have one hold onto me for protection. Pyrrha seemed confused for a moment before the blush came back tenfold as she realized what was happening to me, so we sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"L-Look I'm sorry about that, I-I guess I just haven't been that close to a woman in my entire life..." I trailed off lamely, realizing just how fucking sad that whole sentence sounded. "L-Look, you can go if you want y-your contract is fulfilled or whatever-"

I was cut off as the cute succubus wrapped an arm around my own and leaned in to rest her head against my shoulder. Looking down tensely I noticed that she avoided my gaze with a furious glowing blush on her face, face scrunched up in embarrassment.

"I-It's fine, it's my job you know? Besides, you're not the worst client I could have for a first time. You're pretty cool and I wouldn't mind if you summoned me some other time..." she nearly whispered the last part of that sentence thought I heard it quite clearly.

"S-So we could do this again?" I asked a little forcefully, avoiding making eye contact with her.

"Y-Yeah, in fact I think I'd like to very much." she answered to me finally.

The silence, now not so tortuously awkward, gave me a lot to think about. About how I got here, how did I want this to go, and where did I think I would actually end up?

But, in the end, this is how I got a succubus as a girlfriend...


	44. The Stranger

**The Stranger:**

 **There are legends spoken of a man, a man with indomitable power and strength who cannot be stopped by any harm done to him. He scours the land in search of new thrills, of new challenges. No one knows why he so blatantly attacks those who catch his eye, but those who disappoint him usually wind up dead or simply left behind, confused as to why they had been attacked so suddenly. Some say The Stranger is out for revenge, others say he is on a quest, but if you knew him you would know his motives were much simpler: to feel something again...**

0-0-0-0

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 104th Mistral Tournament sponsored by Schnee Dust Company!"_ the announcer began auspiciously, inciting a roar of crowds around him. _"And boy do we have a big match up for you today folks, returning for her third attempt at the gold: Miss Pyrrha Nikos!"_

This time the crowd _really_ went wild with the cheering, a young redheaded girl in red and gold armor stepping out onto the stage with a smile and a wave to her adoring fans. Once the crowd had settled down enough, Pyrrha Nikos strode up to the microphone and nervously gave the speech she had written.

 _"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming out here today me and my family are most grateful for you support. As he explained this will be my third year going for the title of "champion" and I intend things to start off on the right foot. I can't wait for my first match, and I know whoever I'm thrown up against I will succeed in besting them with the full might of my abilities."_ she finished rather tensely, the crowd still echoing their support with raucous applause. _"With that, I guess, let the games begin!"_

After the crowd had finished their third round of cheering, the arena had been prepared and the landscape randomizer had been set up to provide a varied field of battle. As were the customs, even returning competitors started off in the starting bracket and soon the first day was underway, multiple matches proving to excite the crowd as victors were declared and the TVs caught all the best bits.

In the stand, however, there stood a rather pale, scrawny young man with Atlesian-style tattoos covering most of his body. The symbols, almost runic and savage in design, seem to give off a dull beating glow, like a weak heartbeat. All the while, the young man stared down in thinly-veiled contempt for the sorrowful matches, finding some pleasure in not having to bore himself with them. Instead, he got to the heart of his reason for coming here almost immediately: he had been paired against the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, twice reigning champ and warrior superstar.

She had earned to immense clout last year for beating a professional huntsman in a sparring match for a promotional gig and there was serious talk of her going to Haven Academy. The young man didn't care where she went, he only needed her for one battle. So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice his temporary sponsor (the man had needed a champion to get himself some money fast) sidle up beside him with a nervous glance.

"So, champ, how you thinkin' you're gonna fair?" he asked, casting looks down at the preceding fight. "Nikos is a tough broad that's for sure."

"It'll be fine, I only need her for one fight." the boy answered, not really quelling the sponsor's nerves.

"O-Oh, ok then." an awkward silence hung between them. "So, ugh, this heat sure is something yeah?"

The boy glanced up at the beating sun, no doubt casting down a warm and pleasant shine to all those in the Colosseum.

"Hmmph, wish I knew." was all the boy said before turning on his heel and going to his locker room.

"Ah geez..." the sponsor trailed off, dabbing his sweating forehead with a handkerchief.

0-0-0-0

 _"Now for the match you've all been waiting for! 'The Goddess of Victory' Pyrrha Nikos,"_ the crowd's roar was deafening at her name. _"versus the enigmatic newcomer: The Stranger!"_

The cheers were markedly softer and there were even some definite "boos" in there too. The tattooed boy gave them no heed, staring down his incresingly uncomfortable looking opponent. As the roulette spun for the mixed terrains Pyrrha tried to break the ice, wishing that they didn't have microphones to cast their voice out to the whole arena on them.

"I guess I should wish you good luck then huh?" she asked a little tiredly, but with a wholesome smile on her face. Her opponent said nothing and just stared at her with a growing intensity as the battlefield around them rearranged.

One tundra, three forests, and two mountain ranges providing an excellent chance to gain leverage and cover. The announcer began the countdown, the fans cheering along with it, and it was in that moment before they began that her opponent finally said something.

"Do you know what it's like not to feel?"

Then the match started.

Her instincts kicking in, Pyrrha fired a few shots before closing in with her sword. She expected her opponent to block or dodge but instead he just sat there and took them, the rounds pinging uselessly off his aura. She skipped upwards and brought her sword down in a crescent-shaped swing only for it to be met with a tremendous, aura-enhanced punch that easily sent her flying back.

The boy before her sat rather lazily, a growing look of disappointment clear on his face before he shook his head and sighed mournfully.

"Out of everyone I had ever faced I thought perhaps you could make me feels something." he hung his head back down to look at her. "But I guess not."

As he finished talking Pyrrha lost sight of him as he jettisoned towards her with blinding speed, a translucent trail of blue aura following closely behind him. His skin and tattoos glowed a ghostly blue-white as a kick landed on her shield with enough force to send her shooting backwards and into the forest zone. Quickly gaining her balance she went to find more cover, expecting her opponent to either take up a strategic position or follow closely behind.

However, when she looked she simply found her opponent absently walking towards her cover, arms splayed wide and an inviting grin on his face.

"Come now Miss Nikos aren't you going to hit me?" he taunted, chuckling after he said it.

Pyrrha grit her teeth and fired a volley of shots from her cover behind a tree, but once again her challenger took it in stride and continued to walk lazily toward her. Realizing that her rifle was no good, Pyrrha jumped from behind her cover and closed in for a barrage of sword swings. She sliced her xiphos across his chest and abdomen like a butcher cutting meat, and yet, while it did knock him around slightly, her opponent merely laughed lightly and caught her wrist mid swing with an exceptional speed.

"Really? That's it? How boring." her opponent remarked, punching his fist into her chestplate with enough force to dent it. "I guess I never did tell you my name then, did I? Well it's Jaune if you didn't know."

He said it lightly, as if he was just casually conversing with the now gasping champion of Mistral in his arms. Noticing that she wasn't truly listening, Jaune gave a tired sigh and flung her across the arena with the ease a child would with their action figure. The crowd was dumbstruck, they had never seen such an honest trouncing let alone given to one of the best championship fighters they had even seen.

The Mysterious Stranger seemed to take all the damage done to him in stride, unaffected by such trivial things as pain and injury. Already, scouters from the different combat schools were drawing up proposals for scholarships and offers. Once again walking idly over to the downed champion fighter, now without her xiphos, Jaune stood triumphantly above her, a mocking grin plastered on his face.

"Want to try again?" he asked, as, with Pyrrha's growing horror, his wounds seemed to ripple and warp before closing all together, blood sinking back into his skin as his aura regenerated and fixed his injuries. "Because seriously, that was not impressive."

Growling to herself, Pyrrha shot up with a vicious uppercut that would have sent anyone else sprawling. Instead, Jaune's head whipped back down, and with it, his fist hammered down onto her bronze shield, heavily cracking the stone floor beneath them. His body suddenly wreathed in a pale glow again, Jaune backhanded the redheaded warrior across the arena floor with enough force to generate a sickening _crack!_.

"Oh come on, one little punch and you're down?" Jaune asked, sounding genuinely upset at the prospect of the fight being over.

Even so, he turned to regard the aura meters and was at least comforted by the fact that Pyrrha had only just entered the orange so she still had some fight in her. It was then, with a translucent blue-white blur, that Jaune dashed back into the treeline and landed next to a mighty oak. Grabbing its base, the tattooed fighter hefted it up, tearing the tree from its roots in the process, and set it over his shoulders like a massive staff.

Pyrrha stumbled onto her feet, slightly woozy from the shocking blow, and registered the massive wood coming towards her (get your mind out of the gutter!). She saw as the comparatively scrawny boy lifted the thing up like one would a regular stick, reeled back, and swatted at her with the mighty trunk. Luckily, Pyrrha had gotten her shield up long before then and took the brunt of the swing with grace, only being driven back a few meters.

The tree did not fair so well, splintering violently on contact and sending shards of bark everywhere. Before she could even clear her vision, Jaune dashed forward and landed a punch on her shield that rattled her teeth, but he wasn't done- he threw a second punch that sent her flat on her ass as she skidded across the floor. The crowd, having gotten past their initial shock, roared their approval at the bout of combat.

Pyrrha got up and danced backwards, narrowly avoiding strikes that seemed slow in comparison to what Jaune had done before. She frowned and grit her teeth at the realization that he was going easy on her, prolonging the fight out of boredom. She switched tactics and began to fire a volley of shots at her seemingly invincible opponent who, once again, took them with ease and gave her a shrug.

"What... the hell... are you?" Pyrrha asked between labored breaths, noting the fact that he seemed irritatingly fine.

"Me? I'm just a man on a mission for the ultimate sensation." Jaune answered cryptically, cracking his neck and fingers. "That said, I guess it _is_ about time to end but before I do I want you to know one thing: I can't feel any of this!"

By the time the Mistral champion had registered the comment and its implications, her enemy had closed the gap in a literal blur and crashed a solid punch right into her jaw. There was an iridescent blue-white glow, a sound like a clap of thunder, then a vague sensation of glass breaking over her skin before she realized that she had lost...

0-0-0-0

"Excellent work out there son!" Jaune's sponsor cheered, clapping his gladiator on the back with pride. "I'd say we should pop open the Champagne, eh?"

"Go ahead, not like I can taste it." Jaune muttered bitterly, watching the Mistral night life go about their business from the window he was next to.

"Ah, well, I think this does deserve a toast though?" The sponsor nudged his champion with a smile.

Eventually Jaune caved and they shared a hearty toast to their victory, and to Jaune's new career as the champion. When Jaune asked what he would do now his sponsor seemed to think about it for a moment before responding.

"Now that one of my sponsors has won a tournament, I guess I'll be shooting for the big leagues now." he began, sipping his drink as he watched the fire in the living room crackle. "I can tell you're not gonna stick around to remain the champion so I guess I'll need to find a new guy now."

"Sorry about that." Jaune grunted with a sliver of sincerity.

His sponsor waved it off. "Forget about it, after what you did for me I'll get work wherever I want."

"Well then, here's to that."

"Damn right partner!"

0-0-0-0

Pyrrha Nikos was not having a good day.

"Pyrrha, dear, you're father and I aren't upset we just want you to know that-" her mother began before she was cut off.

"I know, mom, I know. It's just- that guy, Jaune, he utterly _annihilated_ me. The guy had so much aura and such a high regeneration rate that he was unstoppable!" Pyrrha complained, putting some makeup over a growing bruise on her face. "Meanwhile I walk away with more scars than I got my entire career beforehand."

"Pyrrha, it's ok everyone loses a fight now and then." her father reassured, causing the former champion to huff.

"I know, and I'm not mad about losing. If anything, I was waiting for someone to finally beat me in the arena. It's just..." she trailed off trying to find the words. "Did he have to be so ruthless about it!? He could have swatted me like a bug as soon as the fight started! But instead he just bats be around the whole arena making me look like an incompetent little girl!"

Mr and Mrs Nikos gave eachother a stare as the frustration began to roll off their daughter in _waves._ Mrs. Nikos urged her husband to say something but the experienced warrior was afraid to confront a teenage girl on an emotional high, instead wanting another woman to do it. Ultimately it turned into a staring contest between the two before Mr. Nikos finally caved.

"Well, I mean, you lost but so what?" his daughter eyed him dangerously causing a bead of sweat to roll down his face. "I-I mean that this just means you have to shoot higher next time right? That means there's so much more to learn and eventually overcome. Maybe you could try to copy that man's techniques and incorporate that into your own?"

"I thought that was his semblance?" Pyrrha questioned, confused at her father.

Mr. Nikos's smile faltered and he looked contemplative for a moment. "I will admit, I've never seen it on such a scale but if one had high enough reserves they could accomplish that level of speed and strength via aura empowerment. But, like I said, that would require enormous reserves and a high regeneration rate to keep it going."

Pyrrha thought about it for a moment, idly judging the chances of learning a technique like that. It's true her aura reserves were far larger than her peers, but she wasn't sure if she could just zoom around the battlefield like Jaune had. In the end she sat in her chair, sipping a mug of cocoa brought to her as she pondered over the chances of her beating that strange young man in the future.

Then of course there were the words he spoke before the fight ended: " _I'm just a man on a quest for the ultimate sensation_."

What the hell did that mean? He told her he couldn't feel pain (and, by extension, anything) but why? Was that his semblance? If so, why couldn't he turn it off. She'd heard of passive semblances that were always active, but those were incredibly rare because of the stamina they drained. She thought about these things, sipping her drink, before deciding it was probably best that she stop. She still have a Beacon form to fill out...


	45. Slipping Between the Lines

**Slipping Between the Lines:**

 **Jaune Arc got into combat school, furthermore he aced his way into Beacon. No more was he the dumbass that we had grown to love, Jaune Arc was a capable warrior with a capable semblance. Unfortunately, he had not yet mastered the art of covering his clothing in his aura so his battles tended to end up a little... exposed for lack of a better word. This was Jaune Arc, professional huntsman, aspiring leader, and occasional nudist.**

0-0-0-0

It was the first combat class of their year, and already Pyrrha was sweating bullets as her leader walked on stage. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, a far cry to their team's usual ensemble of armor and clothing but far more practical if one knew him the way they did. Nervously, the young redhead glanced over at her fellow teammates, Nora -the cheerful ginger- had a sort of malicious glee in her eyes that only grew brighter as their leader's opponent obviously huffed at his choice of wardrobe. The quiet young man, Ren she struggled to remember, seemed noticeably tense and withdrawn as he studied the combat room's floor. Glancing down, she made out one of their bathroom towels stuffed beneath the seat in front of them, a much needed aid for the oncoming battle.

For his part, Jaune Arc strode confidently onto the stage with a swagger in his step, a cheerful smile on his face. Cardin Winchester, his apparent opponent, greeted it with a sneer and a hefting of his oversized mace. Jaune simply cracked his neck and fingers and let out a pleasant sigh at the release of tension.

"You gonna whip out your weapon Jauney-boy?" Cardin asked with faux worry. "I'd hate to smash a guy like you when he isn't armed."

"Don't worry about me Cardin, let's agree to have a good match!" Jaune exclaimed brightly, earning a scowl from his opponent. In between them, Professor Goodwitch strode and cleared her throat.

"Gentlemen, this is the first combat class of the year, and I want it to go well." she glared at the both of them. "And that means I want to see some semblance of sportsmanship, and try to keep the injuries to a minimum. Last year we made it a whole week without a hospitalization which is the record, let's hope you can beat that."

"Oh, I think you might be disappointed teach." Cardin drawled, sizing up his fellow student like a predator would with its prey.

For her part, Glynda Goodwitch sighed and threw a hand indicating the match had begun.

With a roar, Cardin swung horizontally and his mace crashed into the still form of Jaune Arc. The black fabric of the shirt shredded and ripped where it had been hit and yet the young man, now absent of his shirt, stood rather awkwardly as his opponent stopped to comprehend the situation.

"What the hell-?" Cardin asked before Jaune's fist clubbed him in the nose, sending him reeling back onto the floor.

To his credit, the young man executed a tasteful backflip and charged, swinging low to his opponent and aiming to knock his legs out. Jaune jumped just as the swing almost connected, and came back down with a thud that almost crushed the redheaded boy's head. Cardin, with a growl, lurched forward and slammed his mace into the floor, a line of fire screaming towards the blond challenger.

It readily consumed him, the crowd giving a collective gasp of anticipation even as some noticed almost not shift in the half nude warrior's aura level. When the smoke cleared, Jaune Arc was nowhere to be seen. As if on cue, people began to clamor that the poor man was dead, incinerated by the passionate heat of combat and a large chunk of fire dust. Cardin sputtered nervously, whipping around either to form an exit if they tried to arrest him or looking for a sign of his enemy.

It wasn't two more seconds until a flash of yellow lit the stage and Cardin was tumbling ass over elbows through the air. Jaune had somehow phased through the floor and delivered an devastating strike to the jaw as he rose up out of it! The crowd cheered, the more observant students beginning to blush and turn away as one Lie Ren raced down to the floor with a towel. Cardin's aura had reached its limit upon re-acquaintance with the floor and he slumped to the ground, motionless and groaning.

"Well Mr. Arc that was a well placed uppercut, however you could still- HAVE SOME DECENCY YOUNG MAN!" Professor Goodwitch cut herself off with a screech, noticing the completely nude form of her student. The well built body of Jaune Arc stood on full display for the crowd, not even a well placed knee of shadow to cover up his unmentionables.

It was then that Ren rushed onto the stage and threw a towel to his leader who caught it with a salute and a wink. Ren, for his part, turned away with a shiver and tried to get the image that was fastly burning itself into his head out before it would set in. After fastening the towel to his waist, Jaune gave a hearty chuckle without so much as a dusting of red on his cheeks.

"Apologies guys! My semblance doesn't work on clothes so I'm usually going in the buff!" Jaune laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

0-0-0-0

Sometime after both teams JNPR and RWBY had gathered for lunch and sat across from eachother on a table, Nora and Jaune the only ones with an appetite for eating. Ruby and Pyrrha seemed to radiate an intense heat of them as they picked at their food, Weiss seemed to be staving off a massive headache, and both Blake and Ren had resorted to simply ignoring the situation around them. Yang, however, eyed her fellow blonde mischievously, already building up an armory of jokes and puns that she would use until she died.

"So, ugh, is everything alright guys?" Jaune asked, staring up from his food to notice the tense atmosphere.

"No! Nothing is "alright" Jaune Arc!" Weiss nearly screeched, an accusatory finger pointed right at the young man. "How did you think it was _appropriate_ to expose yourself in such an i-i-indecent manner!"

Jaune, for his part, shrugged apathetically. "I can't really help it, my clothes phase right through my body."

"Then stop phasing!"

"Hey, that's not fair! I don't ask _you_ to not use your semblance!" Jaune shot back.

" _My_ semblance doesn't cause me to become naked!" Weiss seethed back, a light blush on her face. "This is a place for sophisticated hunters, not for streakers to show themselves off!"

"Oh Weiss-cream, are you embarrassed by our blonde friend's muscular body?" Yang teased, raising a suggestive eyebrow at her teammate.

Weiss looked like someone had walked over her grave and shivered. "I will thank you to _never_ assume such a thing again."

"Speaking of asses-" Yang began until her sister clamped a tiny hand over her mouth.

"L-Look, Jaune, don't worry about it. It is your semblance and we can't... ask you to not use it, I guess." Ruby told him, unable to look him directly in the eye.

"Sorry guys but when you've got a semblance like mine you kinda stop being embarrassed by being seen in the buff." Jaune shrugged once again, turning back to his food and narrowly stopping Nora from pilfering one of his nuggets. "Everyone back at Sanctum seemed ok with it after awhile."

That caused Pyrrha to blink and turn to her team leader. "Jaune, you went to Sanctum?"

"Hmm?" he hummed with a mouthful of food. "Yeah, how else did you think I got into this school?"

"N-No, it's just... I guess I never really heard anything about an occasional nudist around the school." Pyrrha thought aloud, now wondering how it was that Jaune seriously didn't know who she was when they first met.

"Well, how much time did you spend in school instead of training for the tournaments or hashing out sports deals?" Jaune asked, head leaning on the palm of his hand.

"W-Well I guess you've got a point, I probably spent the very bare minimum of time required there I suppose." Pyrrha blushed and looked down, ashamed at having asked such a dumb question in her eyes.

"Relax Pyrrha, it's nothing to feel embarrassed about. You still got your training and you're like a super genius, y'know?" Jaune asked, patting a hand on her shoulder.

Pyrrha beamed and stared into her leader's face, the surrounding students gagging at the obvious crush between the two of them. After awhile, and a dozen more innuendos from Yang, lunch was over and the teams returned to class.

It wasn't until the day was over that Team JNPR sat in their room, Jaune listening to his music and Pyrrha finishing up her studies. Nora, having grown tired of just idly watching Ren knit, looked to her team leader and asked him a question that had been on his mind.

"Hey Jaune, what's it like to have such an awesome semblance?" Nora asked, causing Jaune to chuckle a bit. "It's just that mine isn't as cool compared to yours."

"Nora, that might be a touchy subject for him." Ren warned, but was staved off by his leader.

"It's fine Ren, it's just that if you really knew what my semblance was like you wouldn't think it so cool." Jaune smiled somewhat dryly.

Pyrrha having been listening in, turned in her chair with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean Jaune?"

Jaune's smile faltered and he sighed. "Well, it's just that- my semblance, Phaser, allows me to phase through anything. _Anything._ That includes light, air, and soundwaves when I'm fully phased. I can't see or hear anything and I have no oxygen when I'm fully phased, I don't know where I am or where my opponents are. It took me over a decade to hone this semblance into such a controlled power."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked, frowning slightly as she thought about the much simpler mechanics of her own semblance. "So, if that's the case, how on Remnant do you even locate your opponents to strike?"

Jaune smiled mischievously. "Training Pyrrha, training day in and day out for the better half of 11 years. Admittedly my finetuned control over my semblance gives me a definite edge over my opponents, but in the heat of battle it takes an enormous amount of concentration to accurately attack my opponents."

"That explains why your clothes slip through your body, and why you have no weapon I suppose." Ren murmured, remembering how he had met the nude warrior punching a hole through a beowolf's head during initiation.

Jaune blushed and scratched his cheek. "Yeah, I kinda had to get used to it y'know? Speaking of which, Ren you're good at aura manipulation right?"

"I would say I am adept at it, yes." the black-haired man answered.

"Well, do you mind helping me do that aura technique where you let your aura crawl over your weapons and armor?" Jaune asked, pleading as he dropped himself in a heap at his teammates feet.

"Wait, you can't do that?" Ren asked incredulously, the technique itself being kind of simple for a Beacon student.

Jaune blushed again. "W-Well it's just- I had to work on my semblance y'know? Not a whole lot of time to be training aura techniques."

Ren chuckled and smiled at his new team leader. "Alright, I suppose I can if it spares me the sight of you being nude again..."


	46. The Secrets We Hide

**The Secrets We Hide:**

 **Everyone has a secret, sometimes mundane other times not so much. For Jaune, his life has one very important, one very dangerous secret: he is a superhero. Taking to the streets of Vale every night Jaune fights the bad element and uncovers plots of super terrorism against the innocent people of Vale. Jaune Arc is the Wizard Hero: Adept!**

0-0-0-0

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock going off, my tired eyes opening to see that it was indeed 5:50 AM and no, I was not going to get an extra 10 minutes of sleep. Which was great considering the whole left side of my body ached from slamming into a brick wall at high speeds last night. I rolled out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs where my sisters were already there.

For being such a large family I can honestly say it surprised me that I was the only one to get superpowers. Hell, not even my mom or dad had superpowers, or rather, if they did, they hid well. Honestly that might explain their views of super society.

"God damn, another attack?" my dad cursed, dressed for his day at the office. "Damn supers."

Like always, a part of me wanted to snap at the man for instinctively blaming supers. This latest attack was perpetrated by a guy calling herself "La Bombarda" who had the power to explode at will. Apparently she had walked right into a police station and reduced it to ash, the government's new super team "The Sentinels" not getting there in time to even catch Bombarda before she escaped.

"I know, and fat lot of good those sentinels did too. Should just round 'em up and lock them in a jail cell." my mom agreed, giving my youngest sister her backpack.

"You think that would hold them?" I asked, failing to keep that thought to my self.

"Whatever, throw 'em down a hole then, I don't know." my mom responded, patting my little sister on her head she giggled in delight. "You mind taking Cindy to her Elementary School Jaune? I can't I gotta get to the office myself."

"Sure." I responded curtly, finishing up the cereal I didn't remember pouring for myself.

These mornings always kind of bugged me out, for one I hated the morning in itself. And not in the "oh darn it I got to wake up and go to work!" way a lot of people do, but I just hated the teeming action of everyone leaving and moving at once. It was all too sudden, too chaotic, and it left my longing for the cool, quiet, dark hours of the night where you could relax without all this motion swirling around you.

I loaded my youngest sister into my car (I pay for it so I get to drive it how I see fit) and left to go pick up my friend. All the while I thought back to my previous fight last night, that Butcher Pete character had been a major pain in the ass. His power wasn't anything special, his ability to throw knives twice as fast as they should was annoying but not really powerful, but the situation he got me into was the problem. Encountering The Sentinels _yet again_ and yet again barely escaping Nike's long winded recruitment spiel for what must've been for the 5th or 6th time.

I sighed, they were probably trying to figure out who I was by this point. If they did I'd be in major trouble unless they didn't notify my parents, but, on the likely chance they did, I'd be spending my nights in my car until I could afford an apartment.

I pulled up alongside the curb, a scraggly looking dude barreling out the door and nearly slamming straight into my door. Sage Ayana clambered into my car and sigh in relief as he buckled his seatbelt.

"You came just in time pal, my mom was reading me the riot act." Sage chuckled, the car pulling away.

"What'd you do this time?"

"Pushed my little brother into the bathtub because he didn't want to get clean before school." Sage grinned wolfishly, my sister giggling in the back seat.

"Dumbass." I grumbled, Cindy gasping as she make exclamations of her displeasure at me swearing.

Eventually I pulled up to Cindy's school and made sure she had everything before letting her go run wild in that Zoo of a school of her's. After that Sage and I pulled into an IHOP for breakfast. Deciding to skip first hour as it was probably some inane bullshit about health that we had known since the fourth grade.

"Soooo, how'd last night go? You get a big haul from your trick or treating?" Sage hissed with a devilish smile.

"Yeah, I got a big haul in the form of Nike's boot slamming into my side. Bitch can hit harder than a freight train." I grumbled again, rubbing the still sore bruise that had long since formed. "All that for some C-list villain. My potential is wasted."

"Why not join The Sentinels if you want a bigger piece of the pie?" Sage advised, me flicking a piece of whipped cream into his hair.

"Then everyone would know and hate me, plus I'd have to listen to Director Ironwood and that guy's a putz."

"I don't think everyone would hate you, just look at Nike!" Sage said, pounding the back of his hand against my chest.

"Oh, the super smart, super pretty, super strong, super nice superhero who saved the entirety of downtown Vale?" I asked sardonically, getting some amusement at Sage's frown. "Somehow I don't think the public will appreciate me in the same way. Hell, they don't even appreciate the rest of the sentinels do they?"

"Fair point." Sage nodded.

"It's fine, I'm still a badass by myself you know? These C-list villains aren't enough to even scratch me."

"Word is that might be changing." Sage said with the casualness someone might mention the weather.

"Scuse me?"

"Jaune, the world is changing for better or worse. The Sentinels are just the start, how long do you think it's gonna be until someone, villain or otherwise, makes their own team of like-minded supers who _don't_ answer to a government? What do you think will happen if Atlas, or Mistral makes _their_ own version of the sentinels? They could be used for to fight eachother to devastating effect! And us normal folk would be caught in the middle."

"What are you saying?" I sighed wearily.

"Maybe it's time to make a game plan, look for the future you know? _Where do I see myself in 5 years_ and all that jazz. Jay, you got some power behind you I'll admit that, but you can't keep playing the vigilante all your life. What if you make a team of your own, one you lead? Then you could do what you want and not have to worry about answering to a higher authority."

"Sounds like the start to a superpowered gang war." I answered him, Sage biting his lip in frustration.

"Look, give it some thought for now ok? But right now we gotta get to class let's go." I nodded and paid the bill, the car ride over silent save for the radio.

Truth be told, he had given me a lot to think about. Admittedly the world _was_ changing and it wasn't a stretch to think that, eventually, someone with actually good powers would come along and disrupt the natural order. It made me wonder how things would turn out in the future, already there were rumors of superpowered people committing crimes in broad daylight. It wasn't a stretch to think that dozens maybe even hundreds more were using their abilities behind the scenes, the thought sent a shiver up my spine.

Even so, I resigned myself to my job and knew I'd be going out again tonight. Things in The Narrows had gotten exponentially worse and I was sure that at least 3 or 4 residents were using their powers to carve out a small gang. From I had gathered the previous nights, they were calling themselves The Chosen, a rather bland name I thought but perhaps it was appropriate. The Chosen viewed themselves as people gifted with powers and basically given free reign over the world as a consequence, like I said, superpowers bring out the inner crazy in all of us.

I mean, just look at me. I run around at night, being a 17 year old boy, in a costume fighting muggers and robbers with _actual, physic breaking_ superpowers and I thought nothing of it. I pulled up into the school's parking lot and automatically checked out for the day while I thought of a good plan to find The Chosen...

0-0-0-0

 **Later That Night...**

Sneaking out had been terribly easy, and not just because I had done it 30 or so times already. I lived in a pretty big house with a pretty big family (7 sisters and parents along with me) so it wasn't unusual to hear a sound or two downstairs. It helped I lived in the basement and had a sliding door right out into our backyard and the subsequent woods that littered the area behind.

Donning my costume, I felt the identity of Jaune Arc fall away to be replaced with the hero persona of "Adept". I had chosen the name myself as well as my costume due to my interest in fantasy games and tabletop adventures such as Mutants and Masterminds and Dungeons and Dragons. My costume was a strange hybridization of a burlap wizard's robe and a ninja's outfit, combining a sort of fantasy aesthetic with the form and function needed to move around and conceal my identity. Around my waist were various leather pouches for my journals on anything I found, some bandages, a few smoke bombs, and a box of matches. My face was mostly concealed by the hood that hung over my face but to be sure I donned a metal visor that cast the upper portions of my face entirely in shadow.

With my costume set I snuck out the back and ventured into the woods, feeling my power surround my body as I took off into the night time air. Back when I first got my powers flying was awesome, I mean it still is but with anything the novelty wears off, but I did need to learn how to handle landings better as I regularly crashed into trees and the like when I first started. I crossed the city, too high to be detected by normal folk, and landed in a seedy alleyway where a very confused, very startled homeless man jumped at the sight of me.

"Aw shit!" he hissed, scrambling to get up. "It's the fucking wizard!"

I smirked, glad to be making a name for myself and waved a hand at him, a strong gust of wind slamming into his back with the force of a football player. He hit the ground hard and I walked over to him, lording over the homeless bum and letting my power tint my voice with an aura of power.

 _ **"Where are the chosen?"**_ I boomed, looking down on the the man.

"L-Look Mr. Wizard- sir! I-I don't know, I'm just a hobo I swear!" the guy stuttered, and a part of me felt bad for scaring the shit out of him. "If they're anywhere they're down by the docks- b-but don't quote me on that!"

I nodded, maintaining my mysterious yet commanding persona and took off into the night. The man below me heaving a sigh and slumping over in exhaustion, not that I could blame him. I sped off towards the dock at breakneck speed, dimly aware of a group of vans moving below me along the highway in a tight line, The Sentinels no doubt.

I can honestly say I wasn't surprised, we had both been on the same track and were slowly narrowing down the areas in which we could find them. We had both searched high and low and were running out of places to check, however, conversely, The Chosen were running out of places to hide. Still, I needed to avoid meeting The Sentinels head to head.

They weren't very forgiving of my vigilante escapades and Jade had told me that they had orders to take me in by any means necessary. However strong I was, I knew I couldn't face a squad of Sentinels without more planning, especially if they had Nike with them. On the other hand, if things went wrong at the docks, it would be nice to have some backup in the form of a bunch of superheroes.

Landing at the edge of the pier, I took notice of the amount of activity buzzing around. Perhaps 60 or 70 people were all loading cargo to and fro from small ships, they all wore the same uniform: black pants, boots, and a shirt under a white vest along with metal visor not unlike my own, on the back of the vest was a single red hand, fingers splayed and reaching.

In the midst of this sea of people, I noticed two who looked wildly out of place than the others. A tall redheaded man in an expensive looking white suit and his assistant perhaps? She was much smaller than he was, standing maybe 5'1, and a sort of pink, brown, and white color scheme that looked like it cost more than my car. The taller man stood talking to a taller grunt who obediently wrote down orders and conveyed them to his pals.

It was now or never, these guys were definitely The Chosen or else closely related to them. Raising myself up onto a cargo crate, I clapped my hands together and pulled them apart, my staff materializing from the pocket dimension I kept it in. It was my most prized possession, slightly smaller than me it was mostly red wood and a grip in the middle being made of swirling gold spirals and a strip of blue fabric that I held onto. The top of the staff had a sharp green crystal secured by more spiraling gold pieces of medal that seem to encircle the bottom of the crystal. However cool and fantasy-like it looked, it was all for show and was rather ineffectual at actually helping me but I did find it help me sell the wizard illusion and I could even focus some of my power through the crystal at the top.

I slammed the staff onto the crate, eliciting a metal crack and drawing the attention of everyone gathered. I felt my power run through my voice, giving it a powerful reverb that shook my bones as I spoke.

 _ **"Chosen! Your jig is up! Surrender peacefully and you will not be harmed!"**_ I ordered, the grunt nearest to me backing away quickly and forming pockets of people. The guy I assumed to be in charge just chuckled as he waltzed towards me.

"So nice of you to join us here Adept! I was wondering how long it would be until you finally sniffed us out!" he smirked before bowing. "My name is Roman- and yes! I am one of the leaders of The Chosen. It is nice to make your acquaintance."

 _ **"Surrender Roman! You have nowhere to go and even with your cronies my power exceeds yours."**_ The grunts started back only to be stopped as Roman raised his hand.

"Is that so? Well far be it from me to tell you otherwise." He chuckled mischievously, and I suddenly got the sense that something was very wrong. "But you'll have to prove it first, KILL HIM!"

I expected the grunts to raise guns, knives, baseball bats and the like so sufficed to say I was unprepared when two or three of them near to me released fireballs at where I was standing. I waved my staff and a shield of green energy materialized before me, taking the brunt of the three blasts. Before the smoke even cleared, I pointed the palm of my hand at the grunts and felt a condensed bullet of air fire out from the invisible portal blanketing my hand.

As far as I knew, I drew upon other dimensions using invisible portals to give myself the appearance of "casting spells". If I concentrated I could feel the different worlds and even picture them, feel them, in my mind. As of right now I had something around 23 or 24 separate dimensions that I could use for separate attacks and effects. It was a bitch to explain to people so most often I left my powers as a mystery, garnering something of a mystical rep for myself.

The squad of super grunts jettisoned away as the bullet impacted at their feet. Even so, I saw the other 50 or so move together to secure cover and form even more squads that began to hurl lightning bolts, fireballs, energy blasts, and even what looked like grenades made out of light. I took to the sky to avoid them and tried desperately to stay out of their range, all the way Roman laughed and tipped his bowler hat to me.

So, apparently Roman had recruited a small army of superpowered henchmen which made this whole situation around 10,000 times more dangerous for me and the city. I raised my staff to the clouds above, drawing upon a dimension of ceaseless storms and electricity and creating gateways in the clouds above. Thunder and lightning rumbled above before the payload was released down onto the dock below me. I saw maybe 7 or 8 people fail to get out of the way of the lightning strikes and cars, cargo crates, and other supplies splinter and blow up as they felt the full force of 3 million volts.

Even so, the henchmen were catching onto my keep away strategy and had begun to aim higher and use their long-range fighters to take potshots at me. I took notice of the fact that the grunts below had nearly the same 3 or 4 powers, mostly beams or blasts of fire and energy. I aimed my staff down at the assembled crowd, Roman cackling wildly as the tri-colored assistant put herself between us. I called upon a world mad up almost entirely of fire and burning slag and let it rain down upon the people below me, the sound of sirens closing in from a distance.

As the torrent of flame concluded, I could feel something begin to encroach upon the edges of my fingers and toes. A sort of numbness that was beginning to seep into every part of me. As the feeling intensified I felt myself get drawn away from the fight, flashes of worlds, planes of pure energy and howling wind perfectly visualized in my mind right down to the details on the rocks. I could hear and smell everything from those myriad of worlds, all of them layered over top one another and threatening to enshroud my mind. I was beginning to lose focus.

I was running out of energy.

Dropping down onto another cargo crate, I knelt over to catch my breath. Happy to see that my previous attack had sent my enemies into chaos, the crowds of remaining goons desperately trying to put out the existing fires or otherwise running away from them. Roman, for once that night, stopped laughing and regarded me with the disdain a member of the royal family would have for a cockroach in their bathroom. He jerked his head at me and his little friend came began to waltz over to me, a disconcerting smile on her face.

Whatever she was capable of, I had an idea I couldn't contend with. Despite that, however, I didn't really have a choice in the matter and hauled myself to my feet, ready to face my newest adversary.

That was until a green wall of flame separated us and I heaved a sigh of relief. "Dragon Hero" Jade, a member of The Sentinels, strode behind the wall of fire and turned his attention up at me.

"Adept, good to see that you kept them here for us." he said politely, his dragon-motif silk costume holding tight against him. "We heard tell of something of a rumbling going on down here and thought we'd pay ourselves a visit."

"We? As in the whole team?" I nearly slurred, my visions swimming.

"Most, not all." he responded curtly, turning his attention back to the main area.

The Sentinels may have been a bunch of "government-sponsored" heroes, but that didn't change the fact that they could kick some serious ass if need be. I saw a lot of familiar faces pummeling people into the concrete, the most prominent being the red and gold armored form of Nike, lifting metal crate over her head and entrapping a large group of people.

I saw Valkyrie charge her body with electricity before almost casually punching out a wave of grunts. There was Reaper and her supposed sister Dragon mopping up the mooks on the outskirts. And finally there was Gambit, the ninja-girl who was facing off against Roman who proved deceptively skilled with his cane as he fended off the shadowy duplicates the heroe sprouted from her body.

I dropped down near Jade and leaned heavily on my staff as I sidled up beside him. The wall of fire having been erased, I could see how laughably easy it was for the trained team to sweep the entirety of the dock's population. In fact, it was so easy that I soon became aware of the fact that most, if not all, of the assembled fighters seemed to just aimlessly lob their attacks at their enemies, not bothering to really aim or switch of tactics.

"Strange isn't it? A dock full of 30 or so supers and they can't even give one of us a hard time?" Jade asked, rubbing his hand on his chin. "Something about this isn't right."

"I also took notice of the fact they mostly have identical powersets." I told him, the pale boy's forehead scrunching into a frown.

"Something is off." was all he responded.

I would have said more, but the visions were finally starting to clear and I needed the time to get my head together. At this rate I'd most likely be able to fly my way home but then it would be a nice long nap. That is, if The Sentinels allowed me to leave.

The fight had ended soon after, the strangest thing since their arrival happening when Dragon attempted to punch out Roman and his assistant only for the both of them to shatter into pieces. And I do mean _shatter_ , like colored pieces of glass that seemed to fade away after a moment, leaving me alone with a team full of superheroes out to arrest me.

"Adept," Nike started cordially. "Let's not mince words shall we? It's been a long night and I'm sure you had a tougher time fighting this rabble alone."

"Indeed Ms. Nike, I will take my leave." I said, bowing grandly to her.

She scoffed, tired of the same old runaround we were used to. " _No_ , you're coming with us Adept. The Secretary of State would like a word with you."

"Ah, I'm sure she would but I do need to be heading home."

"You're not-" I didn't let the redheaded heroine finish, raising my hand and giving a flash of light so brilliant I was thankful for my metal visor.

By the time their vision returned to them I was long gone, already halfway home and ready to hit the hay for the night...

0-0-0-0

"Fuck!" Nike swore, a sure sign of her grumpiness at losing Adept _again_. It would mean yet another lecture from Directer Wallace and a few more hours she'd spend not in her bed.

"Like always, that mysterious bastard escapes." Dragon sighed, cracking her neck idly. "Don't worry Pyr, we'll get him one day."

"It's infuriating! Both the fact he won't just come with us, _and_ the fact that I'm the one who always gets yelled at for it!" Nike, or Pyrrha Nikos when not in costume, shouted to her friend. "Doesn't that son of a bitch know how much I hate it when he just up and leaves!"

Jade, or rather Lie Ren, knew that Pyrrha only really got like this when she had been having a bad day. Not that he could blame her, he wasn't even the team leader and today had been an endless series of running around and filing paperwork to the point that Ren cursed the day he got his powers. Not that he would dare say it aloud right now, but Ren secretly understood why Adept never wanted to join them.

"Hey Nike, don't worry about it. Maybe next time _I_ should talk to him? You two didn't exactly get off on the right foot." Reaper offered, a comforting hand on Nike's shoulder.

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Perhaps that would be best, it was foolish to have simply attacked him the first time."

"So it's agreed! Next time Rubes handles our resident wizard, and don't worry Pyr- we'll weather Hurricane Wallace with you." Dragon, AKA Yang Xiao-Long, smiled, wrapping her two compatriots in a hug.

"Thanks for you're help guys, the lack of sleep has been making my nerves go haywire." Nike smiled wearily, the bags under her eyes looking slightly more pronounced.

And, with that, The Sentinels got into their vans and headed back to the compound, another night's work done...


	47. Fastest Man in the World (2)

**Fastest Man in the World:**

 **Team JNPR has settled into class, and with it their leader has grown increasingly reckless. It has become apparent that Jaune is not the type to sit through lessons quietly, much to the chagrin of his fellow huntress Weiss. As the semester continues onward, Jaune has to deal with the dry, sterile environment of academia. But perhaps he can make the most of it.**

0-0-0-0

Ren noticed out of the corner of his a small trail of dust floating out towards the open door, a by product of his team leader's now seventh time escaping class. He had no idea what he was doing, maybe he was off stealing more loose knick knacks or maybe he just wanted to clear his head. Almost every five minutes had Ren noticing their team leader ducking out for a moment or two, and he imagined he was the only one that had caught on.

They were all seated in the back, hidden behind rows of bodies so the professor wouldn't see the empty seat if he wasn't looking. As he finished the thought, Jaune reappeared in his seat, looking rather disgruntled as he sneered distastefully at the paunchy professor.

"Jeeeesus." he hissed, leaning back with a sigh.

Barring the crudeness of the statement, Ren was inclined to agree. Now Lie Ren was a patient man, a necessary trait when one was Nora's lifelong friend, but even _he_ had to admit the nonstop lectures were grating on his ears. The man just continued on and on with his stories, some of them holding kernels of wisdom hidden in them but more of them simple bluster about the man's exploits in his youth.

He glanced at his other two teammates, somewhat comforted in the fact they too were not faring so well. He had to give it to Nora, she hadn't interrupted the man yet but that didn't stop her from having her head on the ancient wood desk. Pyrrha didn't fare much better, desperately keeping a polite smile as she approximated the look of listening intently, but the small strain in her temples let Ren know she too was having trouble concentrating.

"And that my dear students, is how I killed a dozen goliath with my bare fists." Professor Port finished, his rather impressive stomach jiggling slightly. "Oh but it appears we are out of time for today, well my pupils please fill out a one page essay on the importance in identifying pack hierarchy in the field. And with that, you are dismissed."

No sooner had the words left his lips than Jaune had vanished from the classroom, leaving behind a group of flustered students who had been caught in his jet stream. Ren looked over at Pyrrha who smiled and shrugged, and the remaining members gathered their things to leave. As they left they noticed that in the hall a rather broad shouldered man sauntered his way down the middle, pushing aside the smaller freshman as he passed.

Carbon Winchcrest, a despicable man by what he had seen. However, the moment a few more eyes turned to peer at his cocky strut there was a small flash of a something brown and blonde and poor Carbon was sent sprawling to the floor. The rest of the hall laughed and carried on with their activities, no longer paying him any mind at all which seemed to infuriate the boy to no end.

Even so, he picked himself up and skulked off to the next class. A class which unfortunately their team would be sharing, he nary let out a sigh before he felt a strong arm around his shoulder.

"What an asshole," Jaune drawled, huffing and shaking his head the retreating form of the boy. "Guy acts like he owns Beacon or something."

"It would seem he thinks of himself as something of an Alpha. His little fall your doing I presume?"

"I presume that I know nothing of what you are talking about." Jaune shrugged innocently, turning to face Pyrrha and Nora. "Sorry about bailing on y'all so fast, I was getting majorly stir crazy and I needed to blow off some steam."

"It's alright, it is very difficult to sit through that entire lesson." Pyrrha waved him off with a smile. "Anyways, I believe our next class is History with Professor Oobleck."

"I have learned he prefers to be called doctor." Jaune corrected, pulling out a small chocolate bar from seemingly nowhere. "Learned that when I swung by his classroom a little bit ago."

"Did you steal anything?" Ren asked sternly, raising his eyebrow.

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Jaune said indignantly, before grinning mischievously and holding up a small stack of lien. "Of course I did! Man, I guess I haven't been good at getting to know you all if you had to doubt me."

"Jaune, should you be stealing?" Pyrrha asked motherly, a worried frown on her face. "You could get in serious trouble."

"Relax, I've done this for years." He waved off her concerns, not really quelling them. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Well, I suppose we should be getting to class now." Pyrrha answered, her frown not disappearing.

"Race you there." was all their leader replied for vanishing.

0-0-0-0

As it turned out, Doctor Oobleck was no less eccentric than Professor Port. Where the latter had bored the class to tears with his endless stories, Oobleck's mouth raced a mile a minute as he rushed out information. Only Jaune seemed to be keeping up, a rather content look on his face as he jotted down notes in a blur. Ren assumed the he was more comfortable with a professor who talked as fast as the man ran.

"And _that_ of course brings us to the battle of Fort Castle." the older huntsman raced. "Can anyone tell me why General Lagune lost?"

"Because it's easier to train an animal than a soldier?" Carbon ventured, his feet on his desk.

"Racistsayswhatnow?" Jaune blurted out.

"What?" Cardin responded dumbly, glaring at the man.

"Nothing, just wondering if you're ok after than brutal fall you took in the hallway before class." Jaune chuckled, causing the ginger haired man to get up from his seat.

"Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester, there will be no fighting in my classroom!" Oobleck ordered, causing the latter to sit back down. "Mr. Arc, perhaps you know why General Lagune lost?"

"I dunno, maybe because faunus have better sensory abilities and night vision? But that's just a theory of mine." Jaune replied sardonically, cracking an even wider grin.

"Hmm, sarcasm aside you are correct. Now, what many don't know is that Lagune enacted a foolhardy plan to..." the good doctor carried on, blurting out more information as he paced the classroom.

By the end of class most students were exhausted from the academical whiplash of Port and Oobleck. But not Jaune, in fact the man seemed to be in remarkably high spirits as he prepared to leave class.

"Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester if you would please stay behind." Oobleck called out, the rest of Team JNPR looking to their leader who smiled and waved them off.

After the class funneled out, the professor looked over the both of them with a stern gaze. He sipped from his mug, taking in the amused expression of his blonde student and the irritated one of his ginger student.

"Gentlemen, I'll be frank with you. Today you both acted like children, not huntsmen, not warriors; children. And I will not have that in my classroom, I can see both of you are exceptionally bright for your faults and I would blame myself for the rest of my career if I stood by and did nothing. From henceforth, I want you both to put aside your immature grievances and behaviors, instead, I want you both to act like professional huntsmen. Can you do that for me?" Oobleck asked, tone fairly normal now.

"Of course Doctor, sorry if I offended you." Jaune raised his hands, a sheepish smirk on his face. "Can we put this behind us."

"Yes we can Mr. Arc, thank you. Now, Mr. Winchester...?"

"Hmmph, I don't know why we have to know all this useless junk. Aren't we here to learn how to fight." Cardin grumbled, not looking at his teacher.

Oobleck hummed for a moment before shaking his head. "No, not entirely at least. What good is all your training to protect this world if you know nothing of what is in it? What good is your brawn if you don't have the brains to back it up? Rest assured young man, I do not make these lessons to tide you over until combat class, I make them so you will learn from previous hunter's mistakes and not emulate them. But for now, to get you up to speed on why you must know all this, you are to complete a 3 page summary of the battle of Fort Castle. Am I understood?"

"What? But he doesn't have to!" Carbon stood, pointing an accusatory finger at his fellow student.

"Mr. Arc had an acceptable answer in class, by the way, you may leave." Oobleck nodded, addressing the speedster.

With a small zip, Jaune caught up to his team as they entered Combat Class with Professor Goodwitch. Pyrrha and Ren were startled but Nora seemed to not mind, skipping as she hummed a tune.

"J-Jaune? How did everything...?" Pyrrha trailed off, concerned for her team leader.

"Fine, I apologized to Oobleck for my earlier behavior." Jaune smirked, taking the lead among them. "Now, we get to blow off some steam in combat class."

Combat Class in itself was fairly simple, practical sparring between students to learn new tricks, hone techniques, and shore up weaknesses among individuals and teams. Professor Goodwitch had explained that later on in the semester, teams would be paired against eachother in larger bouts but for now it was one on one matches only. Many students seemed to smirk at that, Jaune included.

"Now students, who would like to be the first match of the year?" Goodwitch asked, not a soul daring to step forward and volunteer.

"Isn't that running the risk of becoming the first loser?" Jaune called out from the stands, drawing a toothy grin from the blonde girl in Ruby's team.

Goodwitch, for her part, simply pushed up her glasses. "Thank you for volunteering Mr. Arc, now we just need one other."

"I will!" a surly voice offered from the crowd.

It was with no small amount of pleasure that Jaune watched Cardin Winchester descend from his team's place and take the opposite position of his opponent. The ginger man snarled at Jaune, who, in turn, cracked an even wider smile. Goodwitch, sensing the growing animosity, sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, flicking her crop and having the lights come on.

"You aura levels are recorded above, please, go get changed and return when you are ready." it seemed neither of them wished to delay the coming bout, for both of the young men returned minutes after dressed in their respective gear.

Cardin was decked out in his full suit of silver armor, a great black mace resting beside him. Jaune dressed in a much leaner fashion, a set of lightweight black armor overlayed casual clothes. Goodwitch swiveled her head between the two before deciding that it was satisfactory, she stepped between them and raised her hand.

"The first one to be knocked out, thrown out of the ring, or have their aura levels depleted loses. You are not trying to kill your opponent, and I will not accept any such violations is that understood?"

"Absolutely." Cardin growled.

"Sure." Jaune remarked, stretching his back.

"Ok, then in 3... 2... 1... Begin!"

The "match" if one could even call it that, was over in literal seconds. Jaune closing the gap between the two warriors in a blur before Cardin was sent rocketing into the wall with a thunderous crack. When the man had regained enough strength to kneel, the class saw the various dents and pockmarks on the boy's armor where something blunt had tried to punch through.

Jaune shook his fist, hissing in pain as he complained that his hand was throbbing. Cardin stumbled to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall for support, before walking off stage, nary a grumble.

"I... suppose that's the match." Goodwitch blinked in surprise before shaking her head. "Jaune Arc wins!"

The class erupted into cheers, Ruby's team (minus Weiss and the black haired one) and his own being the loudest. He blew a few kisses to the crowd before swaggering off stage with a victorious gait. As he arrived in his seat, he accepted a hardy fist bump from Nora and nods of congratulations from both Ren and Pyrrha.

"Good job putting that asshole in his place." the blonde girl on Ruby's team whispered up to him. "Name's Yang, Ruby's older sister."

"Jaune of course." Jaune returned, pointing some finger guns at the girl who chuckled.

"I like you."

"I like me too." Jaune grinned, turning back to his damn. "But damn I'm hungry."

"When is lunch?"

0-0-0-0

 **So wow another continuation! Beacon in the Night will probably be next, but I might be a little afk for awhile. I'm cooking up my very own original work if you can believe it, with Mysterious Mr. E helping me! I won't say a whole lot, but it does involved superheroes and supervillains! Stay tuned and i promise I'll have it out to you all by hopefully thanksgiving. For now, I hope you enjoyed this little chapter.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	48. The Secret World

**The Secret World:**

 **Kingsmouth was like any other small New England town. It had fishing, cozy brick houses, fantastic Halloween parties, and the occasional summoned demon. All in all, it was a fine place to live for any metric of individual. Then the fog rolled in, and with it, a horde of nightmares that had never been dreamt of in the dizziest minds of man. However, for one Jaune Arc, this was the moment he was waiting for, the moment he and his compatriots had trained for, a real life honest-to-god Code Ragnarok. As president of the League of Monster Slayers, and perhaps its sole surviving member, Jaune has taken it upon himself to fight off the tides of darkness and save his home. Perhaps with a little help from those strangers as well...**

0-0-0-0

I recognized him as old man McNamara, the stick in the mud who always complained to the cops about our parties. Even if half his face had rotted off, I could still see that familiar scowl as he laid those cold, dead eyes on me. I felt a pang of grief hit my heart, we were never close, didn't even like eachother but the fact he had been reduced to nothing more than a pitiful zombie wounded me.

 _Just like all the others_ I thought to myself sadly, raising my hunting rifle and aiming for his head. Rule #2 in the Comprehensive Guide to Hunting Monsters stated that the head, no matter what the creature you were fighting was, was always a good spot to shoot. Mr. McNamara hit the ground with a wet _Thud!_ and I retreated back into the middle of the skate park that I had boarded myself up in. As the sole surviving member, as well as the president, of The League of Monster Slayers, it was my duty to try and rid our town of the monsters currently vacationing here.

Climbing on top of my wooden lookout tower, I took up my pair of binoculars to survey what was left of our town. The skate park had been built on a hill with plenty of vantage points to look over town. The fires had long since died out, giving way to an eerie stillness that almost betrayed the fact that there were literal nightmares wandering around those streets. Shifting right, I looked out onto the bay and into the swirling mass of fog that had engulfed the island, the beach head had been taken over by those fleshy pods and the grey-skinned fish monsters that looked over them. In the distance, I could vaguely make the outline of some monolith creature lumbering across the waves.

I lowered my binoculars and looked around my little fort, dubbed "Fort Kickass" by moi, and saw a few straggling zombies limping around. I frowned, the mystical runes I had spray painted all over the barricades didn't seem to be very powerful. I fished out my Comprehensive Guide to Hunting Monsters and flipped to the section about runes, the one I had used was simple to draw but it said I had needed goat's blood, I _assumed_ red spray paint would fit the bill but apparently not. All the other runes involved either some kind of ingredients or a strong connection to the force or whatever those losers over at Innsmouth Academy called it.

I raised my binoculars and looked towards the west, towards the Savage Coast. Now _that_ was on fire, and I could vaguely see those Wabanaki folk huddling around in their trailer park. I wondered if Nadir was ok, he had been visiting his grandparents over at the trailer park when the fog rolled in, if he was alive he'd be perhaps one of the two surviving members of The League of Monster Slayers. I put my binoculars down, cruelly reminded of what had happened when the fog first rolled in.

It had been another meeting like any other, our mole in the academy said there was something brewing and it was bad. We had been holding a meeting when the fog had hit the shoreline, five minutes later we got a radio distress signal from our forward group at the library. We rallied our troops (Me, Brawnz, Neptune, and Flynt) and left, while leaving the other half at HQ to give us orders. By the time we had biked to the library, we had quickly realized we were in over our heads.

Zombies, honest to god zombies were shambling around the street. The library was being assaulted by what looked like a bipedal crab on steroids, trying to smash its way inside. Knowing that our knives and bats would do nothing against this foe, I ordered a retreat back to the skate park to regroup with our rear guard. The LoMS (League of Monster Slayers) had small groups all over the island. From Blue Mountain to the Savage Coast, and we were in some deep shit now.

Biking into the woods had been a huge mistake, dozens of monsters were waiting for us there. Later I learned they had been wendigos, and our knives and bats would have been useless against them. Even the pistol I had it my coat pocket would have proved worthless; we lost Brawnz, of that I'm sure, but Flynt and Neptune broke off from myself and only I made it to the skate park.

It had been deserted, the defenders routing after a fair bit of zombies had advanced on them. Even so, they had at least tried to set up barricades, flimsy things of plywood and chain fencing. Hell, a few of them even got some zombies on their way out if the rotting corpses were any indication. Still, not all of the slayers made it out, and I could make out the faces of a few long time friends lying still on the pavement. The creatures were slow, as well as stupid so biking past them was easy. After that I cleared out a few more with the bricks we kept on hand and started putting up better barricades. That was two weeks ago, my distress signals had been met with static, my food supplies were running low, and the hunting rifle I had scavenged was my only means of defense should the Wendigos track down my scent. I had done my best to honor the fallen, covering their bodies with some tarp and saying a small prayer for each of them.

I sighed and slumped against the old wood, maybe it was better this way. Maybe The League had done enough with finding and killing the few small creatures that tried to enter Kingsmouth, we were out of our depth here. Hell, the _police_ were hanging on by a thread, my parents were gone, I didn't know where my sisters were, and for all I know all my friends are dead.

Perhaps I could just walk out into the woods, leave a message and my remaining supplies and let the monsters take me. Or maybe I could use my hunting rifle, make it quick and painless. I was startled out of my suicidal musings by a wave of static over the the radio, I quickly dropped down from the tower and scrambled over to the old thing and waited.

 _"W... Co- in... This..."_ I adjusted the knobs, trying to get the signal before finally finding it. _"Is there anyone there? Come in, we need sanctuary! We are approaching Birnam Woods, I repeat, we are approaching Birnam Woods! Come in."_

"This is Jaune Arc, head north through the woods to the skate park. I have a base set up there." I answered, hopeful that perhaps they were police, or government, or hell I'd take those academy goons right now.

 _"We're on our way."_ the voice replied with a hiss of static, I just noticed it was girl's voice.

Maybe 5 minutes later the sound of gunshots grew close, a group of three bursting from the foliage and booking it towards my barricade. I raised the gate and my rifle towards the greenery behind them, so imagine my surprise when a wendigo the size of a truck crashed its way onto the small parking lot. For whatever good it did, I got two shots off into its hide and drew the thing's attention from the girl in black who was the closest to it. It screamed its rage at me, sounding more like a person than an actual monster.

The guy in the lead, a young asian man in a green jacket, whirled around, his hand covered in a glowing red, and lobbed what appeared to be a congealed red ball of energy at the thing. It struck dead center, slamming the creature away with more force than should be possible for a sphere the size of a baseball. The monster limped away, growling its annoyance as the three entered my fort.

The green guy caught his breath first and raised himself to look at me, holding out a hand to shake. "Thank you sir, Lie Ren of The Dragon at your service."

"President Jaune Arc of The League of Monster Slayers, Mr. Ren." I responded professionally, slinging my rifle over my shoulder.

Ren blinked in surprise, shooting a look back at his two partners, the girl in the black and a girl wearing almost all red. Eventually he turned back to me after they both shrugged and he regarded me differently.

"You... Hunt monsters?" he asked slowly.

"Yes sir, before this damn fog rolled in we had it made. Kept the little critters from slinking their way into town, kept journals on all the beasts we had encountered, and passed down our knowledge to those who came after. The LoMS is about 70 years old." I drawled, a proud smile on my face.

"The League? Ren, we didn't have any notes on other factions here besides the Orochi and The Academy." the girl in red told her friend.

"She's right, you're new to us. You work with the academy?" Ren asked me.

"Like hell, those goons like to clown around with dark magic. Always trying to shut us down, curb our investigations, and then there's that asshole Montag. Guy gives me the creeps." I answered, before realization dawned on me. "We're a local organization, not exactly widespread outside the island. You probably haven't heard of us, that said, who are you?"

The three glanced at eachother before the girl in black nodded and Ren turned back to me. "As I said, I am Lie Ren of The Dragon, this is Blake Belladonna of the Illuminati, and Pyrrha Nikos of the Templar."

I felt my breath still in my throat, the knowledge on these three groups was few and far between among our archives, but it was generally agreed upon that they were experts in supernatural shit.

"So, you come here to help clear out the tourists?" I tried to joke, only to summon up a weak laugh. "Could use you're help, or maybe you could use mine."

"Yes, well, we're here to help investigate this matter as a sort of joint mission. We're making our way to the Savage Coast, and then to Blue Mountain." Pyrrha, the Templar, said to me. "If I may, you said you were a part of an organization, where are your other members?"

My enthusiasm died in my throat, I glanced back to the covered bodies and when I spoke my voice was thick. "I think I'm the only one left."

Pyrrha followed my eyes and apologized, a sad look in her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"They would have wanted me to save the island, as the last living member I'm the only one who can take up that responsibility." I told them sadly, remembering all the good times we had. "If you need passage to the Savage Coast and Blue Mountain, I'm your man. I know this whole island like the back of my hand, even know where those sasquatches are."

Ren blinked in surprise before nodding. "Well, I suppose having a guide would be beneficial. But if you're coming along with us you'll need more than a hunting rifle."

"I've got that under control." I smiled, pulling off a the white, oil stained tarp on a nearby workbench. Underneath it, was a gleaming device of black and silver metal, a device I called "The Torch". "Been working on this baby for sometime now, just finished my last specs on it. I know a little something about combating monsters, I know these bastards hate fire."

"An astute observation, and one not founded incorrectly." Ren nodded, glancing at the flamethrower. "I suppose with that you'll be joining us?"

"Yep, looks like I'm your tour guide, huh?" I grinned, slinging the flamethrower over my shoulder.

Pyrrha and Ren smiled as I gathered some necessary supplies and lead them out onto the road towards the Savage Coast.

0-0-0-0

Even before Hell itself bubbled up from beneath the earth, I always thought the name "Savage Coast" was a little... forward? Like the rest of the island there was always strange happenings and dark creatures, but the name itself had come from the rapids barring the coastline from ships. More than a few sea vessels had sunken in that sea, a mere mile from shore. It didn't help my mind that they were probably all teeming with nightmarish creatures by now.

Our troupe walked onwards, sticking to the now desolate road as my three new friends picked off the creatures inhabiting the pavement. It seemed Ren was partial to swordplay and that- what did Ruby call it? Chaos magic? Whatever it was it allowed Ren to throw zombies into rock about 3 feet deep. Pyrrha was more modern, using a pair of pistols and a rifle on her back that was loaded with "Anima rounds", whatever the hell that means, that seemed to do the trick. Blake had taken to using a shotgun and a pistol, similar to Pyrrha but much more... graceful. She liked to jump around and hit enemies fast and hard.

Me? I just torched the damn buggers.

"So, where are we going exactly?" I asked Ren, the apparent leader of their trio. "I know the Savage Coast like the back of my hand, sure, but that doesn't help if we have no clue where to go."

"Without revealing too much, we're looking for any serious disturbances on the island. Something that could signal us back onto the path we had lost, you know of anywhere like that?" Pyrrha chimed in, keeping close to my side as she inspected the overhanging cliffs to our right.

I felt something sour rise in my throat, my expression must have been obvious for Ren had caught it.

"I suspect that is a yes?"

"Atlantic Amusement Park." I ground out, teeth clench in a bitter snarl.

"An amusement park? Why there?" Blake asked, a furrow in her brow and a handheld device in her hand.

"The bogeyman." was all I replied, more than ready to drop the subject. "If you're going to the park, you gotta give me this one thing."

"What is that?"

"I wanna come with."

"This bogeyman I presume?" I snorted, as if he even needed to ask.

"Yeah, butchered a few of my friends. Made the adults forget, tore up Neptune's little sis too. Bastard deserves to fry." I snarled, Ren nodding passively.

"Yes, it seems this place might have something to do with our mission."

"Still though, a bogeyman is serious business. Didn't think this place had monsters like that." Blake commented, narrowing her eyes at a shadow in the tree line. "We weren't briefed on anything that powerful."

"Yeah, well, Kingsmouth, you gotta understand, was- still is, an evil place. Lots of bad shit happened here since it was founded, and not just monsters from the woods but, like, sacrifices and like evil gods and shit." I told her grimly. "Despite growing up here, it's a fact of life that anyone under the age of 18 is liable to just getting chewed to bits whenever they go to make a milk run."

"That... must've been hard." Pyrrha said somewhat sadly.

"Yeah, seen a lot of people come and go. Lot of Slayers die at the hands of monsters." I lowered my gaze to the ground before suddenly perking up with an idea. "Oh shit!"

"What?" Ren turned.

"The Savage Coast is where our HQ is located! If we can get into there, maybe we can find my friends." I felt a small amount of hope trickle back into me. "And we can activate the League's defense measures against invasive forces!"

"The League has defensive measures in place? Like weapons?" Blake asked, typing something into her phone.

"Yeah, four golems that have been passed down through the generations to help defend the island in case things ever got like this. With the hidden code in our treehouse, we can activate them to defend the towns." I cheered.

"Interesting," Ren observed, looking me over. "I'll admit, when I first heard of your organization I thought you were just hapless children. But to have four golems on standby? That's impressive."

"He's right, not too many local organizations can attest to that. Let alone one run by teenagers." Pyrrha noted with a smile. "Say, after all this is done how'd you like to come work with the Templars? We offer insurance benefits, dental, and paid vacation."

"Now's not the time for a recruitment spiel, Pyrrha." Blake cut in, throwing an annoyed glance at her partner. "And, my employers said they'd like to have some words with him before you sink your claws into him."

"Words?" I asked nervously, I imagined "having words" with the Illuminati would involve a car battery and handcuffs.

We continued onward, most of the bigger game keeping off the road and more onto the beaches and hills. Still, that didn't mean we were scot free and we managed to run into a lot of zombified townsfolk on our way to Ellisburg. As we continued onward we came across a lone car, the battery having died and a smear of blood over the hood. Behind it, the sound of munching and tearing could be heard.

"Be ready." I told them, not that I needed to.

Whatever was had heard me, and shambled out from behind the car to take a look. I dropped my flamethrower, a horrified expression cast over my face as I backed away from the hideous creature. His skin may have paled, there may have been blood covering him head to toe, and the wound on his head marred his visage slightly but there was no mistaking that face for anyone else.

Neptune, my best friend.

"Neptune." I breathed, tears prickling my eyes. "I'm sorry."

Ren stepped past me, not looking me in the eye as he raised his sword and brought it down on the man I had grown up with. A heavy silence hung in the air, and for a moment I wished it had been me. I felt a hand fall on my shoulder, Pyrrha gave it a small squeeze as she muttered her condolences.

"He was an honourable man, if he was one of the Slayers." Ren spoke, looking at the fallen corpse of my best friend. "May he forever rest in peace."

We continued onward, not saying a word to one another. Eventually we stopped at Ellisburg, and I was disappointed to find that the whole town had been overrun with zombies like the rest of the island.

"We'll make camp in one of the houses tonight. In the morning, we'll go out and look for your friends. A few golems would be helpful right about now." Ren said, motioning us into Mrs. Eckerle's old house.

"Ugh, the sun doesn't rise anymore." I pointed out, it had been night since the fog rolled in.

"You get my meaning."

Clearing the house wasn't hard, Mrs. Eckerle deserved to be put to rest and we were able to find a room suitable enough for all of us. I drifted into a restless sleep that night, tormented by the friends I couldn't save and by some monolith creature beneath Blue Mountain.

God help us all.

0-0-0-0

 **I know its been too long since another chapter, I'm sorry. But at least I updated Among Friends and Monsters right? Anyways, this chapter is based off of my favorite game The Secret World Legends. You can buy it on steam and if you're a horror/action/mmorpg junkie, this game will hit all the right spots.**

 **Until next time.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	49. The Most Dangerous Game (3)

**The Most Dangerous Game:**

 **Having completed the initiation, the newly formed Team CAJN sets off to begin their year at Haven Academy. However, it seems that Haven is more than simply an academy and there appears to be something more lurking behind the scenes. With only eachother to depend upon, Jaune and his team set out to become the greatest huntsman Mistral has every bore. If they don't kill eachother first.**

0-0-0-0

"Wake up!" Chloe barked, already half dressed in her uniform and absently kicking Jaune's bed frame. "We're are _not_ going to be late on the first day! So get your lazy ass up."

"Maybe if you didn't keep us up till twelve regaling us with stories from your family." Jaune heard Dagon mutter somewhat irritated.

"Those were important, you all needed context to what kind of leader I'm going to be. As well as my personal history, I would have expected the same." She retorted, and though it was clear Dagon had his opinions about that statement he let it go.

"Yeah, well, shower's open to anyone who needs it." Dagon muttered, wandering off to pick up his suit jacket.

After a quick shower and a change, Jaune ventured out into the common area of his dorm, the whole complex being designed much like a two bedroom apartment with a living room, small kitchen, as well as a small TV and single couch. Ringo was currently reading a book at the kitchen table, while Dagon had just invited Team SSSN inside for a "quick spot of breakfast" as he put it. Chloe was finishing her makeup in the bathroom.

"So, how are you liking the digs?" Neptune asked Jaune, who shrugged.

"I've had worse, had better too." He mumbled, throwing on his suit jacket. "So Nep, you're from Mistral what can we expect?"

Neptune chuckled before thinking for a moment, hand on his chin. "There's loads of little things, so many in fact that it'd be pointless to list them all off. Most of it is stuff you learn by experience, you know? Like not throwing parties on week days, or no feuding in the communal living area, regular stuff like that. But, then you have the big stuff. The _really_ big stuff."

"Like?" Sun asked, swiping a banana from the fruit bowl at the center of the table he was leaning on.

"The biggest by far is how Haven is set up, think of it sort've like an ongoing competition between teams." Neptune began, furrowing his brow. "If you've lived in Mistral for any length of time you'd know that the place is chock full of clans, families, sponsors, arena fighters, shit like that. Well, a lot of them end up here, whether out of a sense of duty, agreements between different families, tradition, or personal choice. Becoming a hunter is kind of given for any of the old bloods and especially for sponsored arena fighters."

"I sense that causes a little bit of trouble when they're all put together." Jaune surmised, Neptune nodded.

"Right, some clans and families have long-standing feuds, others make 'em while they're here. But, the bottom line is that many people hear draw battle lines between their "factions". You know, like cliques almost, who hates who and why he's going out with her and which person paid of which other person? Plenty of that here, first years usually end up in different factions if they don't have prior commitments. Like us." Neptune finished, waving a hand around his team.

"You guys? What about us." Chloe asked, Dagon jolting slightly at her sudden appearance. "We're first years too, and not like any of us are major players, right?"

"Well, the Nakamura clan was once a vassal for one clan or another. It's all ancient history, but do you think it'll have an effect on our stay here?" Ringo piped up, casting a somewhat worried glance at Neptune.

"Doubt it, especially if your clan doesn't for them anymore. No, what I'm referring to is Jaune." Neptune answered, pointing a finger at the man in question.

"Me? Why?" Jaune asked incredulously, there was no way they knew he was a former champion for The Pit. Lionheart sealed that secret up and swallowed the key he had been told.

"Because you're Jaune _Lionheart_ champ." Neptune scoffed like he was an idiot. "It doesn't take a genius to draw the line between you and the headmaster. Even if people may come to different conclusions about you're relation to him. You'll garner a lot of attention, perhaps the headmaster's move to not make you team leader had been an attempt to stave off the sudden popularity."

 _That, or I'm technically a convicted murder/gladiator here on a tense probation_ Jaune thought to himself, snorting in disapprovement at Neptune's observation. Ringo checked his watched and informed them all they needed to get going, and with that, the eight hunters set off for the day. Walking together down into the courtyard where Chloe chimed in once more.

"Do you think we're gonna run into any trouble?" she asked, casting a glare at a few interested stares from the sparse students.

"Trouble? No. Are you going to get some offers? Yes. Up to you what you want to do with them, and I'll help you out but ultimately it's a team thing." Neptune answered, before furrowing his brow at some suspicious darting figures. "Although it seems plenty of folks are taking an interest already."

"Spies?" Sage grunted for the first time that morning.

"Observers more like." Jaune cut in, not bothering to look at them. "Getting information, seeing how we hold ourselves. Who we associate with, I get the feeling whoever we meet first will impact our reputation quite a bit."

"You talk like you know a lot about that." Chloe huffed from behind.

"I do." Jaune nearly snapped, leaving behind a rather awkward silence.

"Oi, first class we got is "Principals of Dust Theory" with Tavish. What about you all?" Scarlet broke the silence, staring at his schedule.

"Hmm, seems like "Basic Strategies and Field Tactics" with Professor Ulysses Sampson. Huh, that's kind of an old name right?" Dagon observed, as they approached the first year halls.

"Yeah, it is. How old is that guy?" Sun asked, perplexed. "He must be at least, like, what, eighty? Ninety?"

"Could be older, or he had very eccentric parents. Lots of old families deviate from the color-naming rule you know. Lots of heirs get named after important people in their family, even if that creates issues when they themselves go on to do something important." Neptune answered, as he typed something into his scroll. "Anyways, dad says this is where our classes will be so-"

"-Scuse' me, Mr. Lionheart?" a thick voice interrupted from behind them, turning around the eight of them saw a pair of burly looking twins standing beside eachother. "Mind if we have a quick word, won't take long I promise."

"Tell us who you are first." Chloe responded, drawing a slight glare from one of them.

"I'm Caspar, that's my brother Porfirio, we work for a guy named Jason and he'd like to just, you know, grab a drink and talk." Caspar, apparently, stated with shrug. "No commitment, just a chat between one big man to another."

"If anyone is talking to anyone, I'll be there to listen in." Chloe asserted, causing Profirio to chuckle.

"I think this'll be a, how you say, professional meeting, not a personal one." Caspar clarified, narrowing his eyes at her. "Like I said, no commitment. If you wanna talk go to Professor Hector's room, A404 in the third years complex, after school today."

"Hey you-" Chloe started, but Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Not worth it, they just came to deliver a message. It's this Jason guy I'm worried about." Jaune told her, frowning slightly. "I'll go talk to him after school, just to see the score."

"We're coming with you," Chloe stated, whirling around on him. "No way are you going there alone."

"Not to be a third wheel here, but that could be seen as a sign of weakness if you're whole team needs to be there." Neptune chimed in.

"So what? Who cares-"

"I do, especially if this shit is gonna decide how people look at us for the next four years and maybe beyond." Jaune interrupted, before raking a hand through his hair. "They'e not gonna try anything, and if it's easier to just go alone and listen to him then why not."

"But I won't know-"

"He's not gonna lie to us Chloe, for god's sake." Dagon groaned. "I mean come on, he's still our teammate."

Chloe flushed slightly. "N-No, I know he wouldn't lie but- I guess I'd just feel better if I could hear it from the horse's mouth, you know?"

A bell chimed overhead, cutting off any further discussion. With a promise to meet back up later the two teams split off from eachother and both got to their respective classes...

0-0-0-0

"Alright, shut up all of you." the surly, bearded professor grunted as he strode in. "I'm Professor Sampson, and I'll be your Basic Strategies and Field Tactics professor for the year. That means I'll teach you all the industry tricks to staying alive in the field. Any questions?"

One boy raised his hand, a wiry guy with thick milk-bottle glasses and a red beanie. "Ugh-"

"Awesome, now take out your textbooks and flip to chapter one." Professor Sampson continued, unconcerned with the student. "We'll begin with the relationship between Grimm pack dynamics and time-tested strategies to outplay them. This course will progressively get more complex as the year continues, as will the knowledge you will need to retain. If I can get a volunteer to pass out the syllabus..."

So the professor continued on, handing out the syllabus and going over it. It all felt very... underwhelming for what was essentially a class on how to outsmart monsters, instead it felt more like a college lecture to Jaune. The professor had told them that the necessary complexity of strategies in the field scales up directly with how old the Grimm you were fighting are.

"As we all know, the older the Grimm the smarter. And I do mean _smart_ , not just cunning or clever, but smart. I've seen Crocotta who lured weary huntsman out to their doom by imitating voices. It would be a crying shame if any of you were to meet the same fate, so I must impress the importance of this class on all of you." the wise professor rumbled, a smattering of tanned wrinkles betraying what might have been his old age.

"How often do we actually get to use strategies, though? And how does that help if we just get ambushed my some bullshit Grimm?" a student called out, causing Professor Sampson to breath deeply and nod.

"To be honest, I believe the most important thing for a huntsman is experience. I can keep you here for 30 or 40 years and teach you every play in the book, but that all goes out the window when a Ant Lion burrows up from right below ya'. All I can do is pass on my knowledge, pass on the mistakes and learnings of others to prevent you from being caught in the same situation. Over the course of your careers, you will learn to make calls on the fly, especially if you're a team leader."

Jaune felt Chloe stiffen slightly.

"Now, if you're quite finished let us begin on the which strategies best to use when fighting a young beowulf pack..."

The rest of class marched onward, Professor Sampson, being a very clear cut man, kept things in layman's terms most of the time while drawing diagrams on the board. Once again, Jaune was reminded of just how normal, and more than that overly professional, the man was. He expected everyone here to be some character like Professor Tavish, but perhaps he was wrong.

"And that covers General Octavius's "Four Corners" strategy, quite easy and good when in an open area. Be careful though, members can be ambushed from behind if they don't keep an ear out for their surroundings." Professor Sampson finished just as the bell rang. "Ah well, no homework tonight but don't expect that same luxury tomorrow!"

The class filed out, Team CAJN following their leader as they advanced to the next class. Chloe seemed to be in deep thought, chewing on the end of her thumb as she glared at open nothingness. Jaune shot a look to Dagon who just shrugged in a "what do you want me to do?" sort of way, Ringo sighed and walked up next to his leader, tapping her shoulder.

"You worried about this whole meeting thing?" Ringo asked, ignoring Chloe's halfhearted stare of annoyance.

"Yeah, annoyed is a better word for it. I _hate_ being out of the loop, even if I know this isn't a huge deal I'd like to atleast know what is going on."

"How about you just give me a microphone?" Jaune chimed in from behind, walking at a leisurely pace. "I'll just record the whole thing for you, basically like the same thing."

"Good idea." Chloe nodded, not looking back at him. "Yeah, we'll do that. What's our next class anyways?"

"World History with Professor Myrddin." Ringo answered, staring at the sheet. "Why must everyone here have some sort of strange name?"

"I guess it doesn't matter, he's probably just a normal guy like Professor Sampson."

Sufficed to say, Professor Myrddin was anything but normal. After the bell had rung, Jaune certainly didn't expect a rather aged, hunched over man in what appeared to be a cross between a fur-covered robe and a ninja's outift hobbled in, supported by a wooden staff with an ever changing dust crystal perched on the top. Professor Myrddin, for Jaune did not doubt it was anyone else, raised a hand and quieted the classroom.

"Good afternoon, warriors of old." he greeted, standing a bit straighter. "I am Professor Myrddin, although you may call me Teacher if you like. It is my duty to supply you with the arcane knowledge of your predecessors, so that you might learn from them."

His hood covered most of his head, and his upper face was shadowed in darkness that offered no insight to what he looked like. Myrddin waved his hand a plume of blue fire erupted from it, expanded onto the floor and taking the shape of what appeared to be a battlefield. Fiery effigies of soldiers and grimm seemed to dominate a war-torn field, Professor Myrddin speaking over them.

"For countless generations the defenders of humanity have guarded this world, and now you are to be the next generation to carry that torch. Through your will you light the fires of hope, driving back the beasts of the night. Through me, you will learn the ancient, and often extraordinary history of those who came before you and the lessons they have passed down." the scene changed again, a city of blue flames rising over the ocean; Mistral. "Pay close attention young ones, and your knowledge will grow far beyond what you thought it was capable of."

The fire blinked out, and the students were returned to the hunched over man in front of them. Even in the confines of his hood, Jaune could tell the old man was grinning toothily. He walked over to a pile of books in neat rows, his back to the class for a moment before turning around.

" _Levitate_." Professor Myrddin spoke, and, with another wave of his hand, the books glowed a purple-black color and began to slowly levitate towards the class. "These will be your study materials for the year brave warriors, keep them close to your heart."

Jaune looked down at the book that had just placed itself down onto his desk, _"The History of Remnant"_ it read. Once again, Jaune was reminded of the strange dichotomy between the mundane books and the eccentric professor.

"Now, let us being posthaste!" Professor Myrddin exclaimed, a piece of chalk levitating and beginning to write the lesson on the board...

0-0-0-0

"Was it just me, or did Professor Myrddin seem... not all there?" Dagon asked slowly, looking over to his partner.

"Yeah, he's seems a little bit out of it." Jaune answered, frowning for a moment before smiling. "Not that I don't like it, I'm digging the wizard schtick."

"It's certainly curious, is it not Chloe?" Ringo chuckled.

"Yes, well, I have no idea why we must learn from such a man." Chloe huffed, straightening her hair.

"A jade stone is useless before it is processed; a man is good for nothing until he is educated." Ringo spoke, smiling at his leader.

So the day continued onward, classes mostly being normal after that. Though Jaune noticed the myriad stares from around the campus, runners between small groups darting back and forth. More of Mistral's politics he had come to decide, perhaps this meeting with Jason would prove to be more important than he thought.

By the end of the day, Jaune stood facing Room A404, a few hushed voices speaking from inside. He felt his grip tighten around Chloe's scroll in his pocket, he brought his hand up and knocked on the door. The whispers halted, and he heard the thumping of footsteps towards the door. When it opened, Jaune was unsurprised to see Caspar standing behind it.

"Thank you for coming, Jason said this'll be quick." Caspar grunted with a polite nod, motioning for him to come inside.

Jaune took note of the man sitting behind the teacher's desk almost immediately, a dozen other students sitting or standing in the seats around the room. He had slick, black hair and was wearing jeans and bronze armor. He smirked as Jaune entered, his face concealed behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Jaune Lionheart, finally nice to put a face to a name." he greeted politely. "My name is Jason Arcturus, and I am the leader of Team ARGO."

0-0-0-0

 **Finally done guys! Here's you're new chapter, sorry about the delay. Work has been hectic lately. I know a few of you want a new installment of "A Shadow over Beacon" and I promise that'll be my next story. Until then, throw down some ideas you have or leave a review.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	50. The Shadow over Beacon (4)

**The Shadow over Beacon:**

 **Now that Jaune knows where his parents are, and armed with both weapons and a companion, the young man sets out to go retrieve his parents. However, a mounting fear begins to seep deep into his bones, there's a shadow over this town. And it's darkness has only become more pronounced since he arrived. Armed with more questions than answer, the two reluctant heroes set out to the church. Let's hope it will not be their doom.**

0-0-0-0

A heavy silence lingered between Qrow and I, before I finally shifted my coat and turned back to him. His mouth was in a grim line, and he need solemnly to me once before I asked him.

"Anyway into the church without being swarmed by goons?" I asked, hoping beyond hope there was somewhere.

"Well, ironically, there's a passage in the basement there that leads directly into the sewers." he smiled a wry smile. "Of course, I know the way in."

"You've been down here before?" I asked, incredulously.

"Course I have, I'm a hobo remember?" he answered, as if that explained anything.

I sighed, a little too rattled and exhausted to care much anymore. If he knew the way, all the better that we didn't need to slog through this place more than necessary. For a moment, I looked at my surroundings, the drab, weathered brick far above us, the cracked stone floor, and the rusty metal grates along the rounded edges of the room made me feel... nostalgic for some reason. Once more I glanced at the bodies, to make sure they hadn't moved or something, and confirmed they were still oozing blood. Blood that had no business looking more black than red, but it wasn't a huge surprise given everything that had happened so far.

My hands shook slightly as I examined them, whether from the adrenaline or the fear I couldn't tell. Maybe the guilt over killing those three, but I doubt it. All the color had washed out of me, and I squeezed my hands together hard enough to turn them from an ashy pale to stark white. I looked over at Qrow once more, who was waiting patiently to get my bearings before asking him one more thing.

"You knew these three?" I asked, nodding to the bodies.

If Qrow felt any guilt or sorrow at the bodies of his fellow townsfolk, he did well not to show it. "Yeah, before this, before they became like _that_. Even then, didn't really get along with James. Always too intense, to willing to fight, and die, for a cause that others didn't believe in. He was a lost to us before that sickness settled into his body."

We walked in silence for most of the trip, nothing but the dripping of pipes and a few clattering footsteps above us breaking the silence. He looked tired, I noticed, weathered beyond his years, perhaps with the weight of everything he saw.

"I'm sorry." I said abruptly, voice sounding too stiff in the silence.

"About?"

"Your wife."

"Ah." was all he said, nodding once and then falling quiet again.

I guess this was no time to get distracted, all I was concerned about was getting my parents, Qrow, and myself out of this godforsaken town and then moving somewhere warm and sunny. Maybe Paradise Falls in Vacuo, picking up an archaeological job or something. My thoughts served to distract me from the gnawing fear in my bones, a cold ache that set my teeth on edge.

I felt like I was being watched, like there was someone at the end of the tunnel behind us just observing. I looked back periodically, the shadows of the sewers playing tricks on my eyes, making them see phantoms that weren't there. Something wasn't adding up, why did my parents come here? What did these damn villagers want with me in the first place? The pit in my stomach that had been growing since I reentered the town seem to grow larger exponentially, a seeping dread that arose a cold sweat on my forehead.

Keep it tight, Jaune. Think about Paradise Falls, about your sisters, about your friends back at Vale University, think about staying alive to see them all again. You can get through this, we need to keep our head on straight.

"We're here." Qrow said grimly, I looked up to see an old metal ladder leading up into another manhole.

"You sure? Looks like every other manhole down here." I commented, once more checking behind us for that presence.

"Dunno how you can see down here, kid, but yeah. That's the place, see I marked it." He jerked his thumb towards a small "X" symbol carved into the wall. If it's good enough for him I suppose.

"Alright, when we get up there, we need to stay quiet. I don't know my way around this church place, but it has to be pretty big to fit the whole town right?"

"Aye, the church itself is massive, but it has a lot of lower levels. Some run deeper than this one, run out into the coastal caves near the beachhead. Like an ant hive, we'll need to watch ourselves." Qrow answered, not taking his eyes off the manhole.

"Great, just great, it'll take forever to find my parents." I snarled, gripping the gun in my hand.

"Maybe not, if Summer said they were waiting for you I can imagine they'll be in the Inner Sanctum. That's where a lot of meetings happen, and where they planned to take you first I believe."

"I imagine it's also crawling with cultists?"

He flashed me a sly grin. "Aye, by the truckload. But never fear, Qrow Branwen was quite the swashbuckler in his day and he'll be more than happy to defend a delicate maiden such as you."

I was almost put off by his sudden change in attitude, although I was reminded of the tonal shift when I first met him as well. Maybe you just didn't get to keep all of your sanity when you lived in a town like this for so long. I nodded, and we ascended the ladder, me going first to survey our surroundings. Seems like this room was mainly used for storage, old crates and dusty religious tools sat perched around the room and on ancient shelves. We snuck out of the sewers, replacing the cover, and quickly ducked behind some large boxes to look out the cracked open door.

"We good to go?" an unfamiliar voice asked from what sounded like down a carpeted hallway.

"Not yet, no sign of James or Jaune either. But I head Summer's phone call did not go over very well. Ozpin is thinking of sending a search party down into the sewers. By all accounts he should still have the amulet" a slightly more familiar voice answered. My breath stilled, the amulet, I had forgotten about it for so long that I didn't notice it pressed against my skin. Is it what they wanted? This damn hunk of metal?

"By the depths, can we not handle this one thing? We have a whole town of people for goddess's sake!"

"Don't ask me, I'm just a grunt."

"Alright then, let's get going. So, how's Nora doing...?" the voices trailed off, finally silence by the distinct closing of a door.

"Alright, let's move." I whispered, sneaking up to the door and taking a peak outside.

Apparently this storage room was at a crossroads between a path going left, and one leading straight. Going straight meant following the two voices we had heard through the door, but going left might lead us into more trouble.

"Left or right?" I whispered back to Qrow, handing him the gun I had been giving and unholstering the gun in the waistband of my pants.

"Left, inner sanctum should be two levels below us." he whispered back, gun and knife in hand.

This place definitely needed a makeover, and maybe a building inspector. The walls, the red carpet, even the lights gave this place a sickly, drab look that seemed to worsen my spirits. Now, mind you, it wasn't as bad as the hotel perhaps, but this place needed an electrician, some construction workers, some painters, maybe even someone from health and safety, all jobs I imagined weren't in high demand here.

The whole corridor we walked down smelled like mothballs and old, shag carpeting. The peeling, yellowed wallpaper and the lack of decorations made this place even drearier than it was. Eventually we came upon another door, although this one had a strange symbol adorning it, like a pentagram with an eye in the middle of it, creepy. Qrow, apparently deeming this to be the way, went first through it and I followed suit.

It was like stepping into another building, the air cooled considerably pass the threshold and the overall look of everything was much nicer. _This_ reminded me more of an office complex, rows of desk and nigh ancient computers over a rather pristine black rug, spacious and well air-conditioned. And also deserted, there was not a soul in sight nor a sound to be heard. It was eerie, a stillness that made every step of our feet sound like explosions upon the rug.

"What is this place?" I whispered to Qrow.

"Communications? That's what I remember."

"Communicating to who?" Qrow didn't answer, instead he narrowed his eyes and continued forward.

"We should be approaching the stairwell soon, there'll be a lot more people once we get close, gonna be hard to sneak in. I mean, unless..."

"Unless what, Qrow?"

He flashed me another sly grin. "Unless you don't mind a little bit of cloak and dagger, yeah?"

0-0-0-0

As Qrow had filled me in, apparently there were always these guys, sentinels or something, that stood in during these meetings as ceremonial guards. Like the color guard from the scouts, but only involving horrible pagan gods and terrifying sacrifices instead of smores and badges. The plan was to jump two of these goons, dress up like them, and infiltrate the meeting.

Risky? Yes. Rewarding? Not quite so. But I didn't have a better plan, and I couldn't just rush in there gung-ho and expect to leave with my soul intact. So, we crept down the long hallways, now tiled instead of carpeted and actually looking more akin to a hospital than a church. The stark bright lights and the white walls making us stand out if anyone were to glimpse us.

Even so, it seemed as if fortune took pity on us because we found two of those idiotic goons walking alone. If I had to describe them, they looked like purple-clad KKK members with purple hats and silk masks. Taking a secondary corridor, we jumped them from the side as they were engrossed in a conversation about one of them getting a new deck installed, or something.

I socked one right in the jaw as he walked past, and let me tell you I am no lightweight. The cultist went down like a sack of bricks just in time for Qrow to catch the other one right in the throat with a well-aimed jab, while the cloaked figure choak on air Qrow took the time to knee him in the face. It was easy getting their robes on, we just threw them over ourselves before we were left with the fate of these two.

"Utility closet down there," I mentioned, pointing at said closet. "We could dump 'em there."

"No," Qrow shook his head grimly. "People only stay knocked out for about 2-5 minutes at best. We don't got rope to tie them up, and we don't need them letting everyone know where we are."

He looked at me, a silent question in his eyes: _Can you do it?_

I did, and I wasn't proud of it.

Dressed in some new ceremonial duds, Qrow and I sauntered our way towards what Qrow _swore_ was the inner sanctum. I was inclined to believe him, I could hear the chatter pick up as we moved down carefully laid hallways of tile and white plaster. Finally we reached a sort of anti-chamber, a large room with various benches along the walls, in between the door we had come through and the massive double doors opposite of us. I noted another oak door to the right of us, I could vaguely see the shape of a spiral staircase through a small glass window.

"What are you two doing?" a voice cut in from behind, turning my blood to ice.

Both Qrow and I turned around, giving our best "Who, me?" appearance -well, as well as we could with masks on- and trying to remain calm. _This_ guy must've been the head honcho of ceremonial goons, because he was decked out in blood red robes, not our peasant-tier purple ones. The figure marched up to us, Qrow's hand falling towards his waist where his knife and gun were.

"We've been looking for you two everywhere, the meeting begins in 5 minutes. Where have you been?" he barked at us.

"We- I mean, I, ugh,-" I stumbled over my words before he cut me off.

"Nevermind, I don't care, follow me to the priestess's quarters." he sped off at a clipped pace, both of us following behind him like scorned children being dragged along by their parent.

We followed him to the door with the spiral staircase, all three of us ascending it at rapid pace. By the time we reached the top, the dread that had been mounting inside of me reached its peak as I gazed over what appeared to be a balcony above the sanctum. Cloaked figures, identical to us, stood along either side of balcony, flanking the gathered procession of townsfolk in the pew below. At the front of the "church", stood an altar composed of limestone and chiseled with blasphemous carvings of wicked, black tentacles and a vaguely humanoid shape standing in the center. On it were various brass dishes of strange, dark fluid and a weathered book open to about its midway.

"Get a move on," the lead ceremonial priest guy hissed at us, shoving two brass bowls of smoking, purple incense into our hands. "Take your places at the end there, on the left side."

We did so, moving to the end of the row and giving us both a good view of the altar, and the entrance. It seems we truly were the last to arrive, the smoldering embers in the hanging braziers providing enough illumination to give me a good look at what appeared to be half the town in attendance. Old, young, men in business suits, and women in sundresses all stood shoulder-to-shoulder next to one another.

The incense was choking, thick wafts of up turning the already stuffy and nearly nauseating atmosphere of the church even more so. Qrow snapped a quick glance at me as if to say "suck it up", and I did so, holding the bowl slightly away from myself. It was then the doors swung open, and a figure strode in, flanked by two others whose very presence silenced the whispers of the church goers.

The three figures -one I recognized as the lady in red from my first day, the other two a pair of blackhaired women who wore white and black robes respectively- strode down the aisle, climbed up the altar, and turned to face the crowd.

"My fellow acolytes," the one in the black stated, long raven hair falling down her back. "today has been a day of great progress. Today we are closer than ever to bringing our lady back from the murky depths where she slumbers."

A chorus of cheers, even a few sobs of excitement and contentment. I turned my nose up.

"Yes," whitey continued, and ah Hell it was the goddamn mayor; Summer. "you have all struggled long and hard in your duties, but soon they shall be rewarded."

"Tonight, we have to special guests coming to visit us. We have long since expected their arrival, and with them they bring our lady's salvation." the woman in red nearly cried out in joy.

A set of doors hidden behind the curtains next to the altar opened, and through them a pair of hooded figures emerged on each side. I felt my stomach twist in knots to the point it felt like my whole abdomen was cramping up. The two cloaked figures strode up next to the three, black-haired women and red-lady grabbing their hoods before pausing for dramatic effect.

"I welcome our new, or rather old members of our communion," Summer cheered to the crowd, the hoods flying down from the figures's heads. "The progenitors of our savior:"

My goddamn parents.

0-0-0-0

 **Vanitas50 back at it, keeping me updating this story. I know this isn't as long as some of you might like, but I figure this is good a cliffhanger as any to leave off on. Anyways November is national novel writing month and that means I am gonna devote some time to my original work "Leaderboard". I talked about it back awhile ago, and I need to pick up the pace soon. If you like superheroes this'll be your kind of story. Also, if anyone _ANYONE_ would like to adopt my stories, please shoot me a PM and we can talk.**

 **Until next time my lovelies, keep those requests and reviews coming!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	51. The Secrets We Hide(2)

**Wow, have I got some explaining to do, huh guys? So, I know I've been gone and a month and this chapter is incredibly lackluster. Sorry about that, a mixture of laziness and work has caused me to neglect some of my endeavors in the writing. With Christmas coming up I have a lot on my plate, but I know that isn't really an excuse. To be honest, I've kind of lost my RWBY writing muse. That isn't to say I'm going to give up, hell no. But, recently, I've been enthralled by this web serial called "Worm", written by Wildbow and free to view online. It checks off all my boxes for good superhero stories, and I think I'm gonna try branching out into it. Both this chapter, and it's previous one were inspired by Worm.**

 **I'll post some stories on here, maybe start a new one. But, if you want more of my writing, go check out "The Very Merry Life of Jerry" on Spacebattles under Creative Writing - Worm. Until then folks,**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

 **P.S. I would like to remind everyone that each of these story prompts are for adoption. Just shoot me a PM and we can talk it out.**

0-0-0-0

 **The Secrets We Hide:**

 **Jaune Arc, better known as Adept on the streets, spends his day fighting crime, when he's not sitting through school of course. Day in and day out, he repeats his thankless task to the even more thankless population of Vale. But, as with any true hero he soldiers onward, never failing, never resting until the last bit of evil has been snuffed out of his city. But perhaps fighting international terrorists with armies of superhumans is a bit beyond, he may need some help...**

0-0-0-0

"Now, can anyone tell me the day when the Color Revolution officially begun?" the teacher droned one, pacing at the front of her classroom.

If I was being honest, I truly didn't know the woman's name. Not enough that I'd be comfortable asking her a question at least, not that I would need to however. The woman's history class was dreadful, cut and dry and devoid of any enthusiasm. Much like her marriage I found himself thinking. Instead, I eyed out then nearby window, aimlessly looking at the patter of rain.

 _I stands alone, on a jagged island little bigger than a driveway. Waves crash all around me, a storm thunders overhead as I gaze out into a grey, endless sea. I feel myself rushing through the water, peering out at the continent-devoid world that is this parallel universe. Life breathes beneath the waves, horrors and wonders churn endlessly in the midst of a never-ending storm. I can taste the salt, smell the fetid stink of the ocean, feel the rain sting against his skin-_

My mind flickers, a new world.

 _Grass, reaching up to his chest. A warm sun gazes down above me, endless clouds stretching into the horizon. I can see cities up there, minuscule blotches floating between the towering platforms. I jump, little more than a kick off of the foot and I find myself rising through the air. Air density so much different, I floats the sky like a balloon on the wind. Idly, I will myself to a stop, feeling my body simply hover there, placated in the peace of the moment. Below, I can see the golden fields of grass that I had been standing in. I look up, I am closer to the dots now. I can make out the shapes, if only vaguely, thin and short, they bounce between the monolithic towers that grace the skies and the clouds, stretching from horizon to horizon._

The bell awakens me, I feel myself jerked back to this plane of existence. Slowly, I get up and trudge to my next class. Tired, that's all I feel these days, endless patrols through the city, getting beat up, only to go home and sleep fitfully for a few hours before going to this grueling, backwater school of mine. I nearly sneer, an expression that I have been told looks out of place on a boyish face like mine.

"You get crunk last night?" a voice crows behind me, a heavy arm looping itself around me.

"Oh yeah, got hammered. Literally." I answered, Neptune smirks and chuckles.

"Fuck, heard about it on the news." his voice drops to a whisper and he leans in. "Nice work there hero, liked the "hand of god" shtick with the fire."

"Yeah, well, remind me to stave off on that one. Burns up my reserves way too fast, need to figure out some _actual_ techniques instead of throwing random spells at them." I answered, shaking me head.

"You're probably right, where would I be if the only cool person in my life died prematurely?" Neptune cracks a toothy grin. "How would I ever write my eventually award-winning book as well?"

"Really breaking my heart here son," I huff, rolling my eyes. "Anyways, I'm taking the week off. Fuck the sentinels, fuck the dockyard goons, and fuck this city. They hate me anyway."

Neptune's smile fades. "H-Hey man, you deserve a break, don't get me wrong, but the city-"

"I'm venting." I cut him off with an irritated sigh. "Not serious."

"Ah, well, how about wings after school?"

"Don't you have work."

"Yeah." Neptune answers, not elaborating further as he begins to walk away.

"Slack ass." I mumble, following behind him.

0-0-0-0

"Fuck Ironwood!" Pyrrha snarls, marching out into the team lounge.

Ren looks up from his book, sighs, and looks at Nora who shrugs and nods towards Ruby. Pyrrha wasn't one to let her temper go off the handle, but she was a teenage girl, and taking orders from thankless old men that demand you risk your neck for thankless citizens would drive anyone to their grave.

"Everything ok, Pyrrha?" Ruby asks quietly, getting up from her seat.

Pyrrha's glare snaps to the smaller girl, causing her to jump slightly and look away. "Ironwood got on my case again. This Adept situation has gotten out of control, he says, bringing the guy in is now a high priority."

"Ah, I see." Ruby nods, going to sit back down. "Patrols tonight?"

"Yeah, forensics are still coming back from the dockyard. None of the suspects have talked, although one apparently died of a sudden seizure in the interrogation room."

"Random, or a kill switch?" Ren asks, not looking up from his book.

"Dunno, could be either." Pyrrha answered with a shrug, settling down onto the couch. "Is it too much to ask for _one_ day where I'm not yelled at?"

"Alas, it seems to be." Yang joked, sidling up next to her on the couch. "But, we're heroes, right? We can take it."

Pyrrha cracked a small grin. "Maybe so, doesn't make it any easier."

"You've got that right, now how are we gonna fish our mystical friend out from the shadows." Nora crowed, leaping over the couch and landing with a harsh thud next to Yang.

"His schedule is sporadic, he likely goes out when he has time if he's a high schooler like us." Ren mused from the couch. "It makes pinning him down very difficult."

Pyrrha nodded. "You're right, from what we know he fights petty crime here and there and shows up for the big fights."

"I guess that explains why he was the first one at the docks, some kind of sensory power?" Yang asked, to which Pyrrha shrugged.

"Dunno, not a lot of hard info on the guy."

"Hmm, perhaps patrolling tonight will yield some information?" Ren offered, looking at his teammates.

"Maybe it will, or at least I hope I get to crack some skulls." Pyrrha sighed, cracking her neck ominously.

"That's our fearless leader!" Nora crowed, jumping up from the couch. "Last one to the armory is a rotten villain!"

Yang smiled as she watched her younger sister scramble to chase after the ginger girl at full speed. "Crack some heads indeed."

0-0-0-0

"Man, I am so glad I didn't go on patrols tonight." I told Neptune, leaning back into his bean bag chair. "I needed this."

Neptune grunted in agreement as he attempted to fake me out in game. "Fuck! That's bullshit, why do _my_ guns shoot fucking paintballs?"

"Get good fuckboy." I responded smugly, chuckling at my friend's rage.

"Fuck you."

We played the rest of the night away, I decided to sleep over at Neptune's house. I was too lazy to go back to my own, and his mom wasn't coming home tonight so he had run of the house.

That night, I dreamt of a strange facility...


	52. Short Notice (Where have I been)

**This is just a short notice to anyone who's wondering where the new chapters are. I know I've been gone for a long ass time, but I haven't stopped writing. For a time, I've moved to to write a story for the web serial Worm. It's called "The Man Loved by the Stars" by King Jerry and if you wan't to check it out, you can.**

 **I'll try to get an arc's mad world chapter soon but no promises.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	53. The Once and Future King

_The Once and Future King:_

 _The King of Vale was a title held by many over the course of thousands of years. It wasn't until the last Great War that the ruler fell in battle, and his relatives absconded with the next heir. In their absence, a new form of system was created, the council based upon the ideals of democracy. Still, the throne sat empty for much time, awaiting the next heir as the first council decreed. But now that that heir has been found, things are becoming much more complicated._

0-0-0-0

"I... am not ready for this." the young man on the throne sighed to himself quietly, gazing out onto the marble floor in front of him.

It was true, he was no king, nor did he ever want to be one. King Jaune Ozymandias Phadrig Zoroaster Arc sat upon his throne, decorated in his ceremonial armor and left alone for the moment to think. Not a month ago had he been a simple farmer, his family's legacy of ancient heroism more a bit of interesting trivia than anything of note. His family had not taken up a sword in some time, and he had no desire to either.

Jaune was a simple man, he wanted the simple life of a farmer. A wife, two kids, and a nice house with plenty of family, not to be king of an entire kingdom. He lacked knowledge, and he lacked any sort of skill, but the ancient decree had been settled centuries ago and he had little choice.

"King Arc," a middle aged man in a suit bowed deeply before righting himself. "Word from Atlas has come, their representative wishes to speak with you soon."

The man paused, awaiting a confirmation from his king. It was all very uncomfortable for Jaune, having the power to allow or dismiss an ambassador from a kingdom like it was his god-given right.

"Y-Yes, did he say a time?" his response felt lacking, no regal tone or confidence in it.

If the man noticed, he did not say so. "He hoped to visit sometime tomorrow, is this acceptable?"

"Of course, please make sure he is treated well." pantomiming the words and expression of a real king, that's what it felt like.

"Of course, your majesty."

The man left quickly, and Jaune was alone with his thoughts. Even now, a small army of advisers and government officials scuttled tirelessly to cement his position, train him, mold him into their king.

It was agonizing, in a way. To be called King and yet given little freedom with what to do with that title. He felt guilty, a common occurrence these days, his family had been torn up by its roots and given a similar treatment to himself. Taken away from their old life of simple farming, and placed upon a pedestal for all to see. The Arcs were not extroverts by nature, no more than he was a real king.

With his father's passing years ago, Jaune was the patriarch of the family and had a responsibility to his siblings, nephews, nieces, and cousins. A responsibility he was failing now that the entire kingdom was hellbent on dragging them out of their lives and into new ones.

"...We're doomed." King Arc sighed to himself, there was already talk of him taking over as commander-in-chief for Vale's army.

"You think so?" a voice questioned, coming up to his side.

"Headmaster, good to see you." King Arc replied wearily, not lifting his head from his hand to greet the esteemed hunter. "And yes, we are, without a doubt, doomed."

"You know Jaune, a King that doesn't believe in himself will drag his people down with him, no matter the circumstances."

"I am not a King."

Headmaster Ozpin sighed, his green and black suit standing out among the pristine white and gold of the throne room. "You are now my lord, and for better or worse you must strive to be one."

"That's a lot to lay onto a man, don't you think?"

"Yes, but the council knows this and are attempting to secede control to you in bits. As to not overwhelm you."

Jaune lifted his head, and sighed mournfully. "I have been going to meetings and hearings nonstop for the past seventy-two hours, and I know no more about leading a government than I did when I was a farmer."

"King Peleus thought so too, when he was crowned king as a child and yet he ruled successfully for over sixty years." Ozpin placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Huntsman and huntresses have always been allies to the king, even before the creation of the huntsman academies. We will be there to help you, my king."

"I hope so Ozpin, because without your assistance the city will be lost..." their conversation came to a halt as the doors opened once more, a man in a ceremonial robe entering.

0-0-0-0

"How did your meeting go?" Saphron asked, putting a plate in front of her younger brother turned King.

"Alright, I think. My adviser did most of the talking, honestly it felt more like an interrogation where my lawyer answered the questions." Jaune sighed, lines of fatigue beneath his eyes. "How are Adrian and Terra?"

Saphron knew her brother didn't want to be reminded of his newfound kingship, so she nodded and gave a warm smile. "Good, a little trouble settling in but Adrian seems to like all the colors. And Terracotta enjoys the bed, she says it's probably the nicest part of our new home."

Saphron knew the exquisite house they had been given was an attempt by Jaune to allow them some breathing room from the stuffy atmosphere of the palace, something she was deeply thankful for even if it was still a thousand miles ahead of their previous life.

"I'm glad she enjoys it, say hello to Adrian and her for me." Jaune stood up from the table of the dining room, a weekly ritual for them by now. Seeing her brother at least once a week and cooking him a dinner he barely ate. "Gerrick requests my presence at the council's chambers, something about foreign relations. Apparently, as the king, I cannot miss it."

Saphron sighed deeply, but managed to give her brother a smile and a reassuring nod as he left. "The work of a king is never done then?"

Jaune managed a weak smile. "Aye, not in the slightest."

Not thirty minutes later, Jaune appeared inside the council's chambers, his entrance shushing most of the heated debates between the royal advisers and the councilmen. As one, they stood and saluted him before Jaune waved them down, taking his seat at the front of the room, his position elevated above everyone in the room.

"The council recognizes Jaune Arc, sovereign King of Vale." the speak of the council addressed, passing the proverbial mic to King Arc.

"I am to understand that this meeting is to discuss the trade deal between the SDC and Vale?"

"Aye, your majesty," Councilman True nodded, his bushy mustache wiggling. "Reports indicate that while Jacques Schnee is eager to push the deal through, the Atlas council has been continually stalling it."

"The reason?" intoned, his voice having taken a much more rough, commanding edge to it.

"Well, sir, there's been ongoing tension between the SDC and the Kingdom of Atlas. The SDC seems to have been pushing their influence more into the international political stage, without the blessing of the Atlesian government. Our spies indicate that the council is beginning to suspect the SDC of attempting to usurp, or otherwise manipulate the system for their own edge." another councilwoman explained, rail thin and hawkish features that reminded him of his third grade teacher.

"Has Atlas given any demands to us?"

"None so far, m'lord, but there's concern that Atlas is merely applying pressure to the deal in order to show us their... position of such a thing." one of his advisers mentioned.

Jaune leaned back in his seat, quite frankly he had no clue as to the depths of this tension between the SDC and the Atlas council. However, it worried him; he knew that if things escalated it would only make his job harder, and he wouldn't risk involving his subjects into any martial conflicts with another kingdom.

"We... need this dust." King Arc began, rubbing his temple tiredly. "With this whole Torchwick business and the repeated dust robberies from the White Fang, we can ill afford to cave simply because it may rustle the Atlesian council. For now, we ignore them and go through with the deal."

"As you wish," the man next to him, Gerrick (his top adviser apparently), nodded. "Next on the list: the ongoing skirmishes between the White Fang and multiple Valechan militias, especially along the southern borders."

Jaune watched the floor squabble with eachother, the moderates arguing with the radicals arguing with the loyalists and so on and so forth. Perhaps it was arrogant of him to think so, but viewing it from on high he was reminded of ants, or dogs yapping at eachother.

Jaune had little interest in politics before he became king, and now that he was immersed in it he found it strikingly clear as to _why_ nothing seemed to get done. Bureaucracy was the antithesis of efficiency, or so it seemed.

It wasn't that it didn't matter to him, because it _did_. These decisions would affect his subjects, as well as the lives of countless others and to take anything at face value would not only be a gross misuse of his authority, but also an irresponsible choice for someone of his standing.

But having no clue which way was up, added into a lack of sleep, and a nigh-unending headache that seemed to pulse in his mind, Jaune, or King Arc rather, found it difficult to muster the energy to care.

But he had no choice, by virtue of being king he had no other option than to run himself into the ground if need be to protect his people. Occasionally a council member or adviser would ask his opinion, and he'd give it after somewhat lengthy deliberations between himself and Gerrick.

Finally, the list drew to a close, and any tabled issues would either be set aside for another day, or else forgotten to time. Jaune would have preferred the latter, but King Arc had to take the former more often than not.

As the members filed out, leaving only the King, his most trusted adviser, and a single paige to run errands for him alone in the lofty chambers. King Arc sighed deeply and turned to his adviser, a man he had come to depend on.

"Gerrick, I am not suited for this." he started, ignoring Gerrick's all to familiar look. "I am terrified I will make a mistake, and it will cost countless individuals their lives."

"Such is the burden of being King, m'lord."

"A burden I never asked to take on."

"Yes, but one rarely chooses to take on a burden willingly. Most often, we must simply struggle forward and do the best by those we have a responsibility to." Gerrick answered wisely, typing away at some document that would no doubt never be seen by his lord.

Jaune took stock of the man, thin, balding, and rather lanky the man seemed more suited to be an accountant were it not for the gold and purple robes he was adorned with. The man's tireless patience was something to be awed at, and something Jaune had taken to emulating these days. It was comforting, to be have an anchor he could compare himself to, to check his emotions.

"My responsibility is to thousands of people, how can I ever be expected to make the right decision for all of them?" King Arc whispered, more to himself than his friend.

The older gentleman stopped typing, seeming to chew on that before he nodded and spoke. "Sometimes, my king, a leader must make a decision for the majority rather than accounting for the needs and wants of every individual. Each person who you rule over is allowed rights and a voice, but they are also expected, by that same principle, to sacrifice when necessary for the good of everyone. No matter how many may view that as tyrannical, or otherwise foolish."

"Do you think it is? Foolish or tyrannical, I mean?"

Gerrick turned to face the King, a neutral expression on his face. "I think they have never been king, m'lord."

Jaune let out a halfhearted chuckle, shaking his head and leaning forward. His green cape pooling around his ceremonial vestments, black and green trousers, jacket, and undershirt. A veritable collection of medals and symbols adorning the front of his jacket, a symbol of his authority he was told.

"Have you eaten sir, you look rather peaked."

"A few bits of salmon, from my sister." I responded, already knowing his response.

"Denim, go fetch the king something to eat." Gerrick addressed the young boy below them, a lad of maybe twelve or thirteen having been made to stand there for over an hour by this point.

The boy nodded and stepped forward. "What would you like, your majesty?"

Despite himself, King Arc smiled. He felt like a grandfather addressing his grandson, perhaps he looked it as well. "Anything lad, perhaps something with seafood. I rather liked the salmon cakes I had for lunch last week."

The boy nodded, and left posthaste. Jaune leaned back in his seat, listening to the typing of his friend in the otherwise silent council chambers, allowing his mind to momentarily clear of all thoughts. A technique his health adviser had helped him master, "to reduce stress" he had been told.

He would need to give his health adviser a raise.

It was broken all too soon, the young king feeling, rather than seeing, the new presence in the room.

"You have something for me, Gerhard?" King Arc addressed the man in a dark cloak as he moved from behind the curtain.

"You noticed me quickly, you are getting stronger." Gerhard, my royal bodyguard mentioned as he strode up to me.

He made no noise as he sauntered up beside him, letting the young king get a good look at him. He was older than Jaue, like everyone else really, but he was probably younger than his father. The black and gold mask that covered the upper half of his face made it hard to tell, but the times he had seen him without it he resembled a gruffer, neater version of his father.

"More people are no doubt coming to accept me as their king, more followers everyday." Jaune nodded, closing his eyes and reaching out to his, power, the light of his soul, his semblance.

It burned there, like an inferno where it had once been an ember. Gaining strength and power everyday, with each new subject that came to accept the new king it boosted his abilities.

"Hmm, have you been doing your aura exercises? Training?" Gerhard asked, drawing Jaune out of his stupor, his voice deceptively soft and light despite his undeniable amount of deadly skill.

"Aye, Master Gunther has been training me exceptionally well." He stood up from his seat, stretching leisurely. "It seems I have knack for swordplay, something my father mentioned to me a long time ago. Though I'd doubt he'd have expected it to be coupled with such power."

At that, he concentrated on his aura, calling upon his semblance, and a bright blue-green light flickered to life in the palm of his hand. It seemed to struggle for a moment, before suddenly surging forth until it illuminated the room with such intensity that Gerrick momentarily ceased his typing to shield his eyes.

The light died down after a moment, and Jaune turned to Gerhard with a wry smile. "You seemed rather tired Gerhard, allow me."

Before he could speak, Jaune gestured his hand toward him and the length of his arm up to his elbow was covered in an rippling glow, like that of water being disturbed. A moment later it washed over his bodyguard, cloaking him in its effect. A moment later, Gerhard seemed to straighten and let out a sigh of relief.

"My thanks, sir." he bowed humbly. "I will admit, my previous endeavors left me a bit drained."

"Speaking of, how did your infiltration go?" while politicking was the bane of his existence, the subtle art of espionage and subterfuge played right into King Arc's tactical and patient nature. "I assume you have something to tell me about our friends?"

Gerhard's smile was not kind. "Aye, the White Fang I managed to interrogate told of their plans to spread into Vale. Though they had no idea as to the reason behind it, all they were able to tell me in depth was that they were being led by a man named Adam Taurus."

He nodded, rubbing the stubble of his chin. "Adam Taurus, a dangerous man to make an enemy of."

"No match for you sire," Gerhard snickered, perhaps it had been meant as a lighthearted barb though Jaune could not tell what was funny.

"Mind your tongue, Gerhard." Gerrick chided, his voice lacking any heat. "That is still your king, and you will respect him."

Gerhard cleared his throw and bowed, though the grin stayed on his face. "My apologies, m'lord."

He waved him off like he would a child. "Go Gerhard, take some time off. Visit your family, I think they would like to see you."

"As you wish, sire." Gerhard bowed, and, in a moment, he vanished. Retreating into that pocket dimension of his.

"My lord, what should we do about this whole White Fang nonsense?" Gerrick asked, sounding as though he were discussing a spot of unpleasant weather.

"Simple, a man should never chase after a cat. He is simply not built to withstand that kind of chase," King Arc's smile mirrored Gerhard's earlier one. "We are ambush predators my friend, so we will do what we do best."

"Take care of business, my lord?"

"Aye, when is the this year's Vytal Tournament scheduled?"

0-0-0-0

 **There we have it folks, finally a chapter! This one actually got the blood pumping, something that I haven't had for RWBY in a long time. Seriously, Volume 6 was better than Volume 5, but that's like saying a three care pile up is better than a ten car pile up.**

 **Rest in peace Adam Taurus, may you rest easy while we mourn the death of any good character development you might have had.**

 **Fuck Blake, and fuck Bumblebee.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

 **P.S. also be on the lookout for NobleDarkHunter as he may be adopting my "One Man Army" story, he already has a fanfiction out, so make sure you check that out as well.**


	54. Of My Ancestors

**Of My Ancestors:**

 **The Arc clan is a family rooted in tradition, in honor. For many years the stories and legacies of their ancestors had been passed down the newest generation. And for the past one hundred years the Arc family has engaged in a new tradition, one that sparks scorn and distrust in the outside world. For Jaune Arc, it matters not. He's prepared his whole life for this moment, and now he is ready to assume his position as Patriarch of the Arc family.**

0-0-0-0

I stood across the arena, staring down at the other man more than a hundred feet away. Even now, he looked no less like himself; rugged, cocksure, and proud. I could see his toothy grin even from where I stood.

The complex was silent, no massive crowd of spectators to cheer us on, not even a single referee to watch the fight.

Because this wasn't a spar, wasn't some training session. This was real, this was the moment I had trained for my entire life. There was a pregnant silence between us that was broken when my father boomed in that familiar voice.

"You have declared yourself worthy to inherit the Arc family, we have seen fit to accept this request and your challenge." his hand rested on the grip of his sword, relaxed. "Do you, Jaune D. Arc believe yourself up to the task of this challenge?"

I paused, my breath held up in my throat. Was I? I had trained all my life, heard all the stories but now? Now, this was real. Could I do it? Did I have it in my to slay the old man, prove myself to my ancestors?

"Yes, I do." was my simple, sure retort.

My father lowered his head, an almost bittersweet smile on his face. "Then prove to me my son, prove to me you have what it takes."

And like that the fight started, my opponent disappearing in a plume of fire only to reappear about ten feet next to me, the rolling waves of heat giving away his position. I raised my shield, white light flowing over it like the waves of an ocean.

The attack came not a second after, the sound of his broadsword connecting solidly with the bulk of my defense. His strength-enhancing semblances lending to the force he brought to bear and I felt my heels dig into the floor.

My Aura-reinforced shield held though, and I countered with a quick thrust forward. He dodged, of course, with a magnificent spin that connected into a lateral slash at my neckline.

I brought my head back just in time, I had left my neck unguarded. Think Jaune, how many sensory semblances did your opponent have?

 _Aurelio Arc III: 360 degree sensing, with better sense of movement the closer it was to him._

 _Magnus Arc: Knew exactly where to put his blades to achieve maximum effect._

 _Angelo Arc VI: Got a better sense of his opponent the longer he kept them in eyesight._

Those would be the foremost ones helping him, he hadn't used his power-boost yet so they were probably cut to a quarter of their original strength. Still though, I couldn't maintain close combat with him for more than a few seconds.

I dashed forward, going for a fake shield bash before slashing for his knees. My opponent deftly blocked the shield bash with enough time to step backwards and put me directly into his line of attack when I tried to go for his legs.

 _Dammit you idiot! Montgomery Arc II, he had point-blank precognition that only worked during combat. Old man must've been saving that charge for a counterattack._

No time, I was in danger. My foe's broadsword struck down, aiming to cleave my shoulder. It was a waste, but I boosted my aura and caught him in a flash of light that knocked the swing -and himself, by extension- off balance.

I swung in an upward arc, barely knicking the man's chin. No use, his aura was too dense, instead I rolled alongside him and jammed the but of my sword into the side of his leg. With his balance being still off-kilter, it was enough to bring the man down to the floor.

I didn't let up, swinging over my head and into his back. The attack landed home, smashing into his aura where it sparked a sickly green for a moment before he spun on his hand and caught me in the side of the head with the heel of his boot.

 _Fuck, old man's good_ I thought to myself, even so I couldn't give up. I needed to prove to _him_ more than anyone I could protect the family, that I was worthy for the power that came with being the patriarch.

He teleported again, the explosion close enough now that I was caught in between the first bout of flames only to be sucker punched by the second as he appeared behind me in another eruption.

I was able to turn my tumble into a well-practiced roll just in time to bring my shield up for a block. The sword crashed down with all the weight of an bullhead, my semblance boosting the shield just in time to prevent it from being torn into scrap.

It didn't help the resulting force however, and I felt my body carve into the ground. The shockwave running through my armor and into me, causing the breath to get sucked out of my lungs.

Fuck, I couldn't afford to get trapped down here. I pushed up with all my might, catching my opponent by surprise and clocking him in the chin with the corner of my now dented shield.

I swung the length of my sword into his head, it clanged off his aura and shore of a part of his golden-blonde mane that hung down to his shoulders. Dammit, the old man was going easy on me. There was no way I could beat him head-on if he was serious.

It didn't matter, this wasn't about being a serious one-on-one fight to the death. It was about proving myself, and he didn't to go all-out to make me prove my worth. I give him a show, I'd make sure he knew that he was leaving things in the right hands.

I gave a mighty war cry as I stepped into his guard, shield bashing the right side of his body and making him turn. Had to keep him off guard, couldn't let him get the upper hand on me.

Even with his back turned he managed a counterattack, needles of iron materializing out from the black jacket that hung around him. They fired out towards me, slower than they were in their prime no doubt, less numerous too but I knew of their danger anyway.

I sucked in a breath, letting my aura flow through my shield as my semblance bloomed out from it. Glittering light pooled out before me, shielding my mass in an array of twisting white-gold light. The needles pinged uselessly off the shield, but the spread proved to be beyond the scope of the defense and a few of them managed to sink into the floor around me.

I pushed myself forward just as the bits of high-velocity shrapnel exploded out from the sites of where the needles landed. The ground around them seeming to disintegrate and fired off in bits of rocks and metal.

I wasted too much time, the old man was back on his feet. I swung wide, letting out an arc of pure energy that raised towards him, he merely raised a hand and the energy shattered upon meeting some kind of invisible wall.

No use, his defense was too strong. But he must've been feeling it by now, all those semblances had to be carving away at his aura and that was what was probably preventing him from using his power battery to boost himself. The candle that burns twice as bright as they say.

I couldn't get tired now, I was on the cusp of victory. I raised forward, another roar escaping my throat, as I crossed blades with the man, his years of experience being judged against my raw, unbridled passion.

No semblances, no trickery. We fought like men as we locked swords, he swung low and I dodged left, thrusting forward in a move that he ducked under.

Block, block, parry, swing, thrust, block, block, riposte. On it went as we clashed, a look of deep-seated pride evident in my father's eyes as he watched my performance. I don't know how long we continued to fight, but when it happened I was unprepared for it.

I stabbed forward after blocking a swing from his sword, certain that he would dodge which would lead him into my leg sweep. But he didn't. the length of my sword cleaved through his chest.

I stopped, gaping like a fish as he seemed to stumble slightly. I withdrew my blade, and he slumped to his knees, head held high towards me. I dropped my blade, crouching next to him.

Words escaped me as blood gushed from the open wound, this wasn't what I expected. I was ready to inherit the Arc family, but only now did I realize I was unprepared to lose my father as well.

He shook his head, reaching and pulling me into a tight hug. I could feel his blood spill over my pants like warm water in a shower, the feeling disconcertingly soothing to my mind.

"You... have passed, my boy." said through labored breaths, and I could hear the smile in his words. "You've made me proud."

"I-I can't- Dad." I stammered, my vision blurring with tears.

He shushed me, and continued. "Go on now, carry forth the Arc name with honor. I love you, Jaune..."

I felt his weight slump onto my shoulder, knew he had passed. I laid him down gently, the front of my armor stained red with his blood.

I stood up and made it no more than a couple steps before my legs buckled. The power that had been within my father transferring to me, his killer. I could feel the memories, ideals, the phantom images of dozens of previous Arcs.

I felt like I was losing my mind, I knew things but it was like in a dream where only the foggiest clips of sound murmured their way through my mind. Events I had no right to remember being at, perspectives that weren't my own, they were all there yet... distant. Like the more I tried to focus the more they slipped from my grasp, only ebbing back in when my attention wavered.

Then, the power.

It flowed over me like a tidal wave, crashing against the very depths of my soul. Ten- no, twenty- forty powers or more began to blossom within my mind. My sense expanding all the around me, powers I wasn't aware my father had.

I could feel the ground beneath me with my mind, feel the texture of my socks without being physically aware of it. Colors twisted before my, the room painted in faint shades of reds and oranges. More than that, however, I could feel raw strength fill my muscles. The feeling of fire and ice coursing beneath my veins, a veritable collection of semblances at the tips of my fingers. More than one hundred years of collected semblances, memories, and feelings of the previous Arc heads.

I could even pick out dad's. Memories of picnics when he was a child, my tenth birthday through his eyes, and his semblance: the ability to reshape matter into crude and simple constructs. He had more depth with it, able to form crossbows and catapults, but now I was limited to swords and the like.

Thank you, Dad.

Starting with Cornelius Arc, this semblance known as **Tradition** passed down the males of the Arc family through these time-honored duels. And one day, I would be slain by my own son when it came time for him to replace me.

I don't remember how long I sat there, maybe hours or days, even weeks, but when I rose I was no longer Jaune Arc. Or rather, I was and I wasn't. I was something like he was and yet more, one person and sixty persons.

It was... odd. But it was like I was always this, like I had always been missing these pieces of myself. There was no uncomfortable static or bleed-through I had been worried about, peace reigned within me.

I changed my clothes (a nice three piece blue suit) and walked outside the arena where dozens of faces and cameras awaited. Lights flashed as questions poured in, and I only then noticed that it was sundown by now. A little less than twelve hours then.

I raised my hands quieting the reporters, and began to speak.

"People of Vale, I Jaune D. Arc have defeated and slain my father in glorious ritual combat. I am now the new head of the Arc family, and am both proud and honored to have been allowed this opportunity." I clasped my hands behind my back. "I will look forward to my new responsibilities as the new Patriarch of the Arc clan."

Questions and cheers flooded in and I waded through them all, a tempered patience that wasn't my own guiding me through it. Eventually I made my way to a slick black limousine and entered.

I was unsurprised to say the least when Councilman Weathers and Headmaster Ozpin awaited me there.

0-0-0-0

"You... wish to go to Beacon, Julianne?" I questioned the girl before me, older than she was when I assumed my position. Though, maybe more in body than in mind.

She nodded vigorously, her particularly peculiar mix of hoodie and armor jostling with her. She wasn't _unskilled_ per se, but I wasn't sure if she had the required work ethic necessary to go to a school like Beacon. Not when we could personally train her on her own terms and in a way that fit her style.

I rubbed my beard, a bit scruffier than I would've liked but it was better than the minimal peach fuzz I had been able to produce five years ago. I supposed it wouldn't be bad to have an another Arc send off for Beacon, there had been many in the past. But of all my family members perhaps not Julianne would've been my first pick, she was too naive, too trusting off others.

Not that those were bad traits in and of themselves, but Beacon was big-time. Serious academia with dedicated courses, full-time professors, and serious team-dynamics for four years straight.

"Please Jaune, I already took the preliminary tests and I passed with flying colors!" she said, pulling out a signed paper from the staff.

I felt an uncharacteristic spark of anger within me, a vestige from a more old-fashioned Arc who no doubt disliked the fact that such a woman had gone behind his back. Not that Jaune agreed, but it proved to be a slight damper on his already unsure mood.

"I don't know Julianne..."

"Please! I could prove myself to the branch families, I know they think that I'm just some stupid kid but I'm better than they are! I can prove it!"

Again, not wrong per se. The branch families thought her too soft, too uppity and had requested a trade between the main family and the branch. I declined, for she was still my sister and I had faith in her abilities, but I needed to be careful not too rock the boat too much.

The branches listened to me and heeded my word, but there was no need to nettle them unnecessarily.

"I... will deliberate on this further Julie. For now, take the day off and go play with your friends." I waved my hand at her, as I stood up from my chair in the study.

I caught her standing their apprehensively and I sighed.

"I will give you some money, yes."

"Yes! Thanks Jay!"

Sometimes, being head of the family was tiring.

0-0-0-0

"I don't know Ozpin, I'm not sure if she's ready."

"Mr. Arc, please. The staff here at Beacon would be honored to have your sister join us."

"I'm not sure if she's ready, though."

"Very few freshman truly are, but it is our responsiblity as teachers to mold them into fully fledged huntresses."

I sighed, maybe he was right. After all, who would know better about huntress than a headmaster of a hunter academy?

"Ok, fine. But I would like her to go in a sponsor."

"A sponsor? Are you sure you want to attract that kind of attention?"

"I have to, an Arc hasn't been to Beacon in some time and I need to please the branches as well."

"I see, well if it is what you think is best."

"Thank you Ozpin, I'll be in touch."

Needless to say Julie was ecstatic, and immediately began to pack until I reminded her that the next year is over three months away. Even so, I gave her her well-deserved congratulations and made sure she knew I was proud of her.

Here's hoping this will work out...


End file.
